buzzer

plural buzzers

1. One who, or that which, buzzes; an insect that buzzes.

   And wants not buzzers to infect his ear / With pestilent speeches of his father's death.

   c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]

   1 more example

   ... it left, however, a bee at his ear and an itch to transfer the buzzer's attentions and tease his darling; for she had betrayed herself as right good game.

   1895, George Meredith, The Amazing Marriage

2. A device that makes a buzzing sound.

   If you think you know the answer to the question, hit the buzzer as fast as you can.

   1 more example

   If a train enters the forward section before its description has been transmitted, a "not described" lamp is illuminated on the transmitter, an alarm buzzer is sounded, and the lamp remains alight until a description has been transmitted.

   1955 March, “Train Describers at Euston”, in Railway Magazine, page 170

3. USslangA police badge.

   I flipped my wallet open on her desk and let her look at the buzzer pinned to the flap.

   1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 28

4. slangball gamesA run scored from an overthrow.
5. UKobsoletethieves' cantA pickpocket.

   […] a 'buzzer', for whom picking pockets was an art […]

   2012, Ben Macintyre, The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth, page 19

   2 more examples

   The pickpocket was a Buzzer. The man who booked a room at a hotel, and went round the rooms of other guests, was a Snoozer.

   1949, Thomas Burke, The Streets of London Through the Centuries, page 122

   You can't do the street stuff for ever, you lose your dexterity. I was the oldest and I was trained up for a buzzer — a street thief […]

   2016, M. J. Carter, The Printer's Coffin

6. obsoleteA gossip.

   Her brother is in secret come from France, Feeds on this wonder, keeps himself in clouds And wants not buzzers to infect his ear With pestilent speeches of his father's death.

   c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]