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Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
wife-beater

1855, from wife (n.) + beater. Related: Wife-beating. As "sleeveless undershirt" from 2000.

Wiktionary
wife-beater

alt. (alternative spelling of wifebeater English) n. (alternative spelling of wifebeater English)

Wikipedia
Wife-beater

Wife-beater, wifebeater, and wife beater may refer to:

  • a type of sleeveless shirt
  • a person who abuses their wife ( domestic violence)
  • Nickname for alcoholic drinks reputed to arouse pugnacity:
    • Rum, called "the golden wifebeater"
    • Stella Artois, sometimes called "Wife Beater" in the UK
  • Matt Prince, a professional wrestler whose ring name is Wifebeater
  • Sickie Wifebeater, stage name of The Mentors' guitarist Eric Carls
  • Wife Beater (EP), an EP by the metalcore band The Plot in You

Usage examples of "wife-beater".

Roland didn't know for sure, but guessed that few if any hungover drunks and wife-beaters anywhere else in Mid-World woke up to such picturesque views: a line of many-colored boathouses to the south, the docks directly below, with boys and old men line-fishing while the women mended nets and sails.

The only Drugs that werent bastardizing my dying moments were Wildman, who was passed out cold, and Jeff the Wife-beater, who was still busy beating his wife at an impressive meter.