beedi

English

Alternative forms

• beedie, bidi

Etymology

Borrowed from Hindi बीड़ी (bīṛī).

Noun

beedi (plural beedis)

1. A thin, often flavored, Indian cigarette made of tobacco wrapped in a tendu leaf.
   • 1990, Charles Bukowski, “letter, 15 September”, in Abel Debritto, editor, On Writing, Canongate, published 2016, page 198:

     I always write with the music on and a bottle of good red. And smoke Mangalore Ganesh beedies.

   • 2022 June 6, Hannah Ellis-Petersen, quoting Leena Manimekalai, “Indian director receives threats over film poster of goddess with Pride flag”, in The Guardian‎^[1], Guardian Media Group, retrieved 2022-06-06:

     She said: “In rural Tamil Nadu, the state I come from, Kaali is believed to be a pagan goddess. She eats meat cooked in goat’s blood, drinks arrack, smokes beedi [cigarettes]^[sic] and dances wild … that is the Kaali I had embodied for the film.”

Translations

An Indian cigarette

• Bengali: বিড়ি (bn) (biṛi)
• Hindi: बीड़ी (hi) (bīṛī)