dumbledore

plural dumbledores · alternative dumbledor · alternative obsolete drumbledore · alternative obsolete dumble-dor

1. archaicdialectalA bumblebee.

   A dumbledore, lured from the plantation, lies on its back, leaping and churning upon Seth’s bright pages.

   1987, Seán Virgo, Selakhi, Exile Editions, Ltd., page 20

   3 more examples

   Those slopes of fresh turf, embroidered with every minute blossom of the moor — thyme, birdsfoot, eyebright, and dwarf purple thistle, buzzed and hummed over by busy, black-tailed, yellow-banded dumbledores.

   1875, Charlotte M Yonge, The Daisy Chain

   A shaded lamp and a waving blind, / And the beat of a clock from a distant floor: / On this scene enter – winged, horned, and spined – / A longlegs, a moth, and a dumbledore —

   1899, Thomas Hardy, An August Midnight

   Now and then a dumbledore or ‘busy bee’ as they are called by some, propelled itself across our path, they being extremely large and heavy this year.

   1970 May 21, Evening Telegram, page 3

2. dialectalA beetle, typically a cockchafer or dung beetle.

   others may need to be informd that a blastnashun straddlebob is a dumbledore, that is to say, a polyonymous lamellicorn coleopter, cald also a dorbeetle, a dorbug, a maybeetle, a maybug, a cockchafer, a Melolontha vulgaris.

   1964, American Philological Association, “Transactions of the American Philological Association”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), Ginn & Co., page 267

3. dialectalA dandelion.

   The Dandelion has a number of common names in Newfoundland. These include Dumbledore, Faceclock, and Piss-a-beds.

   1975, Peter J. Scott, Edible Fruits and Herbs of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Memorial University Oxen Pond Botanical Park, page 39

4. slangA blundering person.

   “Miserable dumbledores!” / “Right, William, and so they be—miserable dumbledores!” said the choir with unanimity.

   1872, [Thomas Hardy], chapter 4, in Under the Greenwood Tree: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Tinsley Brothers, →OCLC, (please specify |part=I to V)

plural Dumbledores · alternative Albus Dumbledore

1. A wise and kindly older male mentor, especially a wizard-like figure.

   I inherited my uncle Dave's bad knees. I can only hope I inherited some of his writing skills as well. He is a wizard with words, the Dumbledore of poetry.

   2017, Kyle James, Not Afraid of the Fall: 114 Days Through 38 Cities in 15 Countries, Inkshares, page 100

   2 more examples

   A face like Leonardo's is difficult to forget. It's the wise, old man we have seen plenty of times, the image we have learnt to associate with goodness, kindness, with the wise man who knows everything, fixes everything and whose main purpose in this life is helping others. He is the Dumbledore of the Renaissance, a reassuring, safe grandfather figure.

   2021, Rose Sgueglia, The Real Leonardo Da Vinci, Pen & Sword Books

   Dr. C's office was lined with diplomas and emeritus robes, which, combined with his white hair and calm demeanor, gave him the air of having multiple lifetimes under his belt—the Dumbledore of the infectious disease world.

   2017, Phoebe Lapine, The Wellness Project: How I Learned to Do Right by My Body, Without Giving Up My Life, Penguin Publishing Group, page 284