beater

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. One that beats, especially a device for beating: a carpet beater.
2. n. A person who drives wild game from under cover for a hunter.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. One who beats: as, a carpet-beater; a drum-beater.
2. n. In hunting, one who rouses or beats up game.
3. n. That which beats or is used in beating. Specifically— In basket-making, a heavy iron used for beating the work close, or compacting it. In cotton manuf., a machine for cleaning and opening the cotton preparatory to carding. This is accomplished by beating the cotton, as it is fed through rolls, by horizontal blades attached to an axle revolving with great rapidity. The jack of a knitting-machine. A mallet used in hat-making. A tool for packing powder in a blast-hole. A scutching-blade for breaking flax or hemp. In weaving, the lathe or batten of a loom: so named because it drives the weft into the shed, and makes the fabric more compact.

Wiktionary

1. n. Someone or something that beats.
2. n. A kitchen implement for mixing.
3. n. A stick used to play a percussion instrument.
4. n. A man who drives game towards shooters in a hunting party, often working in a group.
5. n. A papermaking machine for processing fibres by fibrillation in order to improve bonding strength
6. n. US, informal An automobile in poor operating condition.
7. n. US, informal A sleeveless undershirt.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. One who, or that which, beats.
2. n. A person who beats up game for the hunters.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. an implement for beating
2. n. a worker who rouses wild game from under cover for a hunter