eager beaver

[ ee-ger ]

noun

1. a person who is excessively diligent or overly zealous.

eager beaver

noun

1. informal.
   a person who displays conspicuous diligence, esp one who volunteers for extra work

Word History and Origins

Origin of eager beaver¹

An Americanism dating back to 1940–45

Idioms and Phrases

An exceptionally zealous person, one who habitually takes on more tasks or works harder than others. For example, Bill is a real eager beaver, always volunteering to stay late . This expression became especially popular during World War II, applied to recruits anxious to impress their commanding officers by such behavior. [First half of 1900s]

Example Sentences

Throughout the attempted coup and in the many months since, Lindell has been among the most eager beavers of the Big Lie gang.

From Salon

As the proportion of people who are vaccinated grows, he said, “we’ll have to work proportionally harder to keep advancing these numbers, because the eager beavers go first.”

From Los Angeles Times

At least one eager beaver frequents the lake, as evidenced by a number of trees it has taken out.

From Washington Times

“Here comes eager beaver Phil Resch back with his handy dandy portable little test. Isn’t he clever? He’s going to destroy his own life and mine and possibly yours.”

From Literature

If I looked like one of the eager beaver kids from debate, everything would be different.

From Literature