wife-beater

wife-beater

1. Literally, a person who physically assaults their wife. The world was shocked to learn that the hugely popular musician was a savage wife-beater.
2. slang By extension, a tank top typically worn under other clothes. Also known as a "boy-beater." You can't go out in just a wife-beater—put something else on over it. One of our neighbors sits out on his front porch all day during the summer wearing nothing but a dirty wife-beater and a pair of boxer briefs.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

wife-beater

n. a sleeveless undershirt. (see also boy-beater.) He always wears wife-beaters with no outer shirt.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • boy-beater
  • the world and his wife
  • left-handed wife
  • family man
  • take to wife
  • How's the wife?
  • the devil is beating his wife
  • the devil is meeting his wife
  • take a wife
  • man and wife
References in periodicals archive
He accused Pimentel of being a wife-beater, the information purportedly coming straight from the senator's estranged spouse, Jewel.
ACTRESS Leslie Ash insisted her husband Lee Chapman was "not a wife-beater" in their first joint interview since she was admitted to hospital amid claims of domestic violence.
IT WOULD BE UNFAIR to say that the outstanding moment at the 2003 Banff Television Festival was the sight of Astral Media president, John Riley, at the podium in a wife-beater T-shirt introducing the Award of Excellence to recipient, David Chase, creator of The Sopranos; but it would also be true.
Robert De Niro took method acting to a new extreme to play La Motta - the violent wife-beater whose turbulent life led him to becoming a stand-up comedian.
This judge has sent a message to every wife-beater in the country: bludgeoning a woman to death is hardly more than a misdemeanour.
A USD10m (GBP6.2m) libel case has been launched by Clint Eastwood against Patrick McGilligan, author of an unauthorised biography which apparently portrays the Hollywood star as a wife-beater, atheist and coward.
So get down to Thresher for a slab of wife-beater, dust off your gaudiest oversized polyester shirt, clear your lungs and get ready to cheer on the finest the world of arrers has to offer from the Circus Tavern at Purfleet, all from the comfort of your front room.
Simpson beat his wife (being a wife-beater didn't hurt Simpson's endorsement deals or his television and movie career) and why he continues to be treated as a hero even after his arrest for allegedly murdering Nicole Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Wife-beater Derek Mitchell broke DJ Suzie's finger during a campaign of domestic abuse.
A WIFE-beater who is suing Jeremy Kyle refused to do community service saying playing computer games for 14 hours a day gave him a "bad back".
'Where is he?' Mary shrieked, 'Where's the wife-beater?' 'Wife-beater?' said toothless Mr Kelly, retreating from the battle-axe, and he turned to his wife and pleaded, 'Teshy, tell her the shcore will you?' PC Fairclough calmed them all down and quizzed Sam.
The Government site features harrowing scenes of a drunken wife-beater, a junkie taking an overdose and a thug repeatedly kicking a helpless victim.
Brookside's wife-beater (Bryan Murray) is killed by spouse Mandy (Sandra Maitland) and daughter Beth (Anna Friel) and buried under the patio in 1993.
Forget the black plastic in her nostril and the deranged man wandering nearby, and concentrate on Jenkins's wife's damaging testimony that he was a wife-beater and a man who physically chastised his children.
The film is a domestic drama in which Lopez plays a woman swept off her feet by a handsome, wealthy Mr Right who then turns into an adulterous, wife-beater. In an effort to save herself and her daughter Lopez decides her only way out appears to be to murder him.