body-builder

See also: body builder, bodybuilder, and Bodybuilder

English

Noun

body-builder (plural body-builders)

1. Alternative form of bodybuilder.
   • 1891 January 2, “Strong Men of the World. Who Are the Distinguished Samsons of the Present Day? Bennett, a San Francisco Lifter. […]”, in The Examiner, volume LII, number 2, San Francisco, Calif., page 10, columns 1–2:

     An excellent example, showing the possibility of the development of the muscles of the back, which are commonly neglected, is that of Professor Robert J. Roberts, the noted body-builder now connected with the gymnasium of the Young Men’s Christian Association of Boston.

   • 1897 September 28, Mrs. A. P. Johnson, “W. C. A.”, in The Dayton Evening Herald, volume XVII, Dayton, Oh., page 3, column 6:

     The Gymnasium prospectus may have reached you before this meets your eye; at all events we hope you will give it a careful perusal, and mentally resolve to join the host of body-builders that is growing in numbers every day.

   • 1961 May 29, “DaLuz wins physique title”, in Evening Herald, volume 84, number 162, Rock Hill, S.C., page 7, column 2:

     Leonard DaLuz, a 26-year-old muscular body-builder, was crowned “Mr. Rock Hill” to highlight the 1961 Rock Hill Weight Lifting Championships and physique contest Saturday night at the Stadium Hut.

   • 1970 March 23, Peter Anthony, “It’s heavy work keeping fit for the stage”, in The Journal, number 38,506, Newcastle upon Tyne, page 8:

     AMONG the muscular body-builders in the first-floor Newcastle gymnasium, Neville Jason, dark, slim and smelling just slightly of after shave, looked very out of place.

   • 1997, Riki Anne Wilchins, Read My Lips: Sexual Subversion and the End of Gender, Ithaca, N.Y.: Firebrand Books, →ISBN, page 38:

     Compare him to Christopher Reeve of the modern Superman movies, who was sculpted like a body-builder.

2. Something that is beneficial to the body.
   • 1886 April 6, Mary E. Allen, “Gymnastics for Women”, in Boston Evening Transcript, volume LIX, number 18,082, Boston, Mass., page 6, column 3:

     Do not imagine I am not in sympathy with the game. I am, most heartily, with this and most out-of-door sports. I am only combating a prevailing belief that they are beneficial body-builders.

   • 1893 September 30, The Pre-Digested Food Co., ““Would He Were Fatter.””, in The Boston Daily Globe, volume XLIV, number 92, Boston, Mass., page 8, column 4:

     It is not a drug; it is a pre-digested food, and is absorbed at once. Strength, plumpness and digestive tone follows its use immediately. It is a body-builder, pleasant to the taste, and soon enables you to digest any food.

   • 1894 September 6, “Women’s Classes: In the Gymnasium at the Young Women’s Department, W. C. A.”, in The Dayton Evening Herald, volume XIV, Dayton, Oh., page 3, column 5:

     “The office of the gymnasium,” says Mr. Richards in the September Century, “is two-fold, educational and sanative. It is not primarily a place of exploits nor designed for teaching dangerous feats of skill. Its chief end is educational. The term, ‘body-builder,’ largely employed by the best instructors, well describes its main purpose.”

   • 1894 October 18, “A Food=Medicine”, in Biddeford Daily Journal, volume XI, number 244, Biddeford, Me., page [4], column 2:

     Angier’s Petroleum Emulsion / It is a body-builder and a disease-destroyer.

   • 1895 May 3, “The Pilgrim Spring Bed”, in The Boston Daily Globe, volume XLVII, number 123, Boston, Mass., page 6, column 8:

     Sleep is the great physician—the body-builder, the nerve-bracer, the brain-clearer; […]

   • 1895 November 23, “Gymnasium Exhibition. First Entertainment of the Season to Be Given Monday Night.”, in The Richmond Dispatch, number 13,826, Richmond, Va., page 2, column 2:

     The members of the various classes, under Professor Schatzel’s direction, have been getting in shape for some time, in order to acquit themselves in the best possible manner for the event, and the exhibition Monday evening is intended to show to the public just what the gymnasium can do as a body-builder, and the exercises which are practiced to develop the muscles, and put them in a healthy condition.

   • 1895 December 19, “Timely Suggestions for Christmas”, in Manitoba Weekly Free Press, volume XXIII, number 52 (whole 1306), Winnipeg, Man., page 4, column 5:

     Sandow Recommends / The Whitely Exerciser as the best body-builder and health preserver.

   • 1896 February 12, “Business Mere Mention”, in The Vermont Watchman, volume 91, number 4687, Montpelier, Vt., page 1:

     If you have a cough that threatens weak lungs or bronchitis, take the sure remedy, Angier’s Petroleum Emulsion, called the Pleasant Food-medicine. It is the greatest cough-stopper, lunch-strengthener and body-builder known.

   • 1896 July 2, Scott & Bowne, “How to Live a Century”, in Passaic Daily News, Passaic, N.J., page 7, column 2:

     What can stop the wasting and replace the loss? Scott’s Emulsion of Cod-liver Oil, with the Hypophosphites of lime and soda. It is a body-builder. It is the essence of the elements and principles that feed, nourish, reconstruct.

   • 1896 July 14, “The Lock and the Key”, in The Hawaiian Star, volume III, number 1015, Honolulu, Haw., page 2, column 3:

     Nothing is so useful as a body-builder as Cod Liver Oil, but alas, how many are nauseated and upset at the very thought of it.

   • 1896 December 4, “Better Than All of Them”, in Buffalo Evening News, volume XXXIII, number 47, Buffalo, N.Y., page 5, column 4:

     Made from pure grains it is a true food and body-builder as well as a delightful and healthful beverage.

   • 1897 May 15, “Women and Home”, in The Spokesman-Review, 15th year, number 9, Spokane, Wash., page 7, column 2:

     The chief divisions of food, viz., vitalizers, heaters and muscle makers, are found in the seeds. The roots and leaves furnish the waste. The fruits are the eliminators of the body, while, as we have said, the seeds are the body-builders.

   • 1897 May 18, “Eye Up to Date”, in The Times-Democrat, volume XXXIV, number 14,587, New Orleans, La., page 11:

     The element which we call albumen is the body-builder par excellence of all the foods.

   • 1898 February 10, Andrew Wilson, “Plain Talks about Health and How to Preserve it”, in The Southport Visiter, number 5598, Southport, Merseyside, page 9:

     In the ordinary life and operations of the body we find our foods capable of being divided into the “body-builders” and the “force-producers”; and, so far, the parallel between the engine and ourselves holds good.

   • 1898 October 8, “Short of Breath; Have Dizzy Spells; Your Heart Palpitates From the Slightest Exertion; If You Are Weak, Listless, Tired and Morbid, Take Dr. Miles’ New Heart Cure, The Great Heart and Blood Tonic”, in The Kansas City Journal, volume XLI, number 120, Kansas City, Mo., page 3, columns 5–6:

     Dr. Miles’ New Heart Cure strengthens and regulates the action of the heart while it stimulates the stomach and digestive organs to make rich, red, vitalizing blood, which adds strength to brain, muscle and tissue. It is a great body-builder.

   • 1899 May 3, “Scientific Food for Children; Grape=Nuts; Round, Healthy Bodies A Sure Result: Mothers Feel a Great Responsibility in Selecting Food”, in The Atlanta Journal, volume XVII, number 65, Atlanta, Ga., page 5, column 1:

     A sure body-builder for children (or adults) is Grape-Nuts, the famous ready-cooked food, and there is a reason.

   • 1899 May 24, “Endeavor Topics”, in The Lima Daily News, volume III, number 124, Lima, Oh., page [6], column 1:

     The drinks and foods that give the most real pleasure are body-builders as well as palate-ticklers.

   • 1900 February 13, “Secrets Wrested”, in The Hawaiian Star, volume VI, number 2480, Honolulu, Haw., page four, column 2:

     It is a healer, body-builder and strength-maker beyond rivalry or comparison.

   • 1900 February 27, Daily People’s Cause, volume XLI, number 126, Red Bluff, Calif., page [2], column 1:

     If the fact were better known that cured prunes take in a large measure the place of meat as a body-builder, and that in addition they possess remarkable medicinal properties, the consumption of the California product would be immeasurably increased and there would be no difficulty in disposing of every crop, however large, at prices much higher than those which now obtain.

   • 1900 March 6, “Smith’s Green Mountain Renovator”, in Fitchburg Daily Sentinel, volume XXVII, number 255, Fitchburg, Mass., page 7:

     A good many people have been saying to druggists that they wanted to try our Renovator, and wasn’t there a smaller size than $1 bottle? We know if the Renovator was given a trial, it would surely prove its body-building qualities, so now every one who feels the need of a strengthening, invigorating body-builder can buy it for 50¢ […] It is the greatest body-builder of today.

3. One who builds vehicle bodies.

   Alternative forms: body builder, (rare) bodybuilder

   • 1867 January 14, “Situations Vacant and Wanted”, in The Age, number 3808, Melbourne, Vic., page 1, column 5:

     WANTED, a good BODY-BUILDER and WHEEL-WRIGHT.

   • 1868 February 4, “County Petty Session, Bury, Jan. 29”, in The Bury and Norwich Post, and Suffolk Herald, number 4467, Bury, Suffolk, page 6, column 6:

     He was a body-builder by trade, and was apprenticed to Mr. Hornsby, at Grantham, and was making his way to Bury to try and get work at Mr. Boby’s; […]

   • 1872 April 9, “Trades”, in The Chicago Tribune, volume 25, number 238, Chicago, Ill., page 6, column 7:

     WANTED—A BODY-BUILDER—STEADY EMployment given to a competent man

   • 1875 May 2, “Trades”, in The Chicago Daily Tribune, volume 28, number 251, Chicago, Ill., page 12, column 1:

     WANTED—ONE BLACKSMITH ON SPRING-wagon and buggy work and repairing; one body-builder; a good draughtsman on buggy and light-carriage work.

   • 1880 May 8, “Wanted—Male Help”, in The Cincinnati Enquirer, volume XXXVIII, number 129, Cincinnati, Oh., page 3, column 2:

     CARRIAGE AND WAGON BODY-BUILDERS

   • 1881 May 26, H. B. Troxel, “Great Bargains! At H. B. Troxel’s For New Work in the Carriage & Spring Wagon Line”, in Hiawatha Dispatch, volume XII, number 3, Hiawatha, Kan., page [3], column 3:

     I have in employ a first-class carriage ironer,a No. 1 body-builder, and the very best of carriage trimmers.

   • 1881 September 27, “Want Col.”, in Daily Democrat, Davenport, Ia., page [4], column 6:

     WANTED—ONE BODY-BUILDER AND ONE gearing-maker, immediately, at GEO. H. YOUNG & CO.

   • 1882 August 5, “The Trades”, in St. Louis Globe-Democrat, volume 8, number 77, St. Louis, Mo., page 8, column 4:

     WANTED—No. 1 carriage-maker; body-builder preferred; steady employment. A. I. Simpson, 1409—1411 Dodge st., Omaha, Neb.

   • 1883 April 24, “Males”, in The Cincinnati Enquirer, volume XLI, number 114, Cincinnati, Oh., page 3, column 3:

     WANTED — PASSENGER-CAR HANDS, &c.—Passenger-car body-builders, cabinet makers and good house carpenters can secure steady employment on application at the Ohio Falls Car Company, Jeffersonville, Ind.

   • 1883 July 8, “Labor Interests. New-Haven Carriage-Builders Object to Lower Wages and Strike.”, in The New-York Times, volume XXXII, number 9933, New York, N.Y., page 2, column 3:

     The wages of the blacksmiths working for B. Manville & Co. were cut recently, and this week the body-builders were notified that they were to suffer the 10 per cent reduction.

   • 1883 July 9, The Evening Times, number 2996, Scranton, Pa., front page, column 6:

     The blacksmiths and body-builders of the Manville Carriage Manufactory at New Haven, Conn., were notified that there would be a reduction of ten per cent. in wages.

   • 1884 May 8, “Males”, in The Cincinnati Enquirer, volume XLII, number 129, Cincinnati, Oh., page 3, column 4:

     BODY-BUILDER — First-class carriage body-builder. Address MORSE & BRENNECKE, Altoona, Penn.

   • 1888 July 2, “Help Wanted”, in The Cincinnati Enquirer, volume XLVI, number 184, page 3, column 3:

     CAR-BUILDERS—At once, at the Ohio Falls Car Works, Jeffersonville, Ind., good coach body-builders and men familiar with putting up inside [?] in passenger cars.

   • 1890 December 28, “No Strike at Pullman”, in The Sunday Inter-Ocean, volume XIX, number 278 (whole 7,001), Chicago, Ill., page 7, column 1:

     Yesterday morning’s conference between the piece-workers and Manager Sessions convinced the body-builders and finishers that half a loaf is better than no bread, and they signified their willingness to resume work on Monday at the new rate of wages.

   • 1892 November 9, Pullman Journal, “Building a Passenger Car. A Detailed Description of How the Work Is Accomplished.”, in The True Northerner, volume XXXVIII, number 38 (whole 1964), Paw Paw, Mich., page [2], column 6:

     At the completion of the bottom of a car, which comprises the work of the bottom-builders, it is turned over to the body-builders, who put up the frame work and complete the body of the car, their work consisting of applying posts, bracing, filling, belt railing, paneling, car-lining, etc.

   • 1896 May 24, “Help Wanted”, in The Illustrated Buffalo Express, Buffalo, N.Y., page 22, column 7:

     WANTED—CAR BODY-BUILDERS AND inside finishers. Apply Canadian General Electric Co., Peterboro, Ont.

   • 1894 May 14, Thomas W. Heathcote, quotee, “Heathcote Tells the Grievances. He Says He Doesn’t Believe the Company Understands the Situation.”, in The Chicago Daily Tribune, volume LIII, number 134, Chicago, Ill., page 1, column 3:

     Second, the body-builders put up the studding and inclose the car except the roof.

   • 1893 April 1, “Situations Wanted—Male”, in The Morning Call, volume LXXIII, number 122, San Francisco, Calif., page 4, column 5:

     SITUATION WANTED BY A YOUNG EXPERIenced wheelwright and body-builder in a shop where he can get chance to learn blacksmithing, of which he has some experience; city or country. Inquire Chicago Hotel.

   • 1899 December 2, “Fifteen Cars a Day. How Rolling Stock is Turned Out at the Great West Milwaukee Shops. Runs Like Clockwork.”, in The Weekly Wisconsin, volume LIII, number 27, Milwaukee, Wis., page [8], column 1:

     As soon as they have laid the sills and finished the skeleton structure for the body-builders, they busy themselves with putting on the brakes.

References

• “bodybuilder, n.”, in OED Online ⁠‎^[1], Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000, archived from the original on 2023-09-13.