Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. US) orig. a small, tight-fitting cap, similar to a large skull-cap; thus propeller-beanie, such a cap with a small propeller affixed to its top; also used for any shape of hat.

1904		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 16: (The Giants and Their New Hats) I’ll just save this beanie and bet it on the election.
1910		B. Fisher Mutt & Jeff 15 Oct. [synd. strip] I’ll go right over and get a felt beanie.
1921		Arizona Republican (Phoednix, AZ) 3 Apr. 28/1: Each year the freshmen wear their beanies until the first of April.
1940		Times-Trib. (Scranton, PA) 4 Sept. 4/2: [advert] She’ll grow wistful when she spies our little [...] plaid beanie.
1948		H. McCoy Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye in Four Novels (1983) 96: He [...] wore [...] a black canvas beanie that advertised a lubricating oil.
1956		N. Algren Walk on the Wild Side 64: The hant had put on a greasy beany.
1959		H.S. Thompson letter 1 Oct. in Proud Highway (1997) 188: I’ll be first to doff my Beat Generation Beanie if you have the guts to publish it.
1966		(con. 1958) R. Farina Been Down So Long (1972) 20: I might dig it and pledge. Wear a propellor-topped beanie during Hell Week, pull a quacking toy to class.
1970		E. Tidyman Shaft 132: You put them on the end of your cock and give them a twist. They spin like the propellor on a beanie.
1983		S. King Christine 484: If she thinks I’m going to go off to Pitt or Horlicks or Rutgers and put on a freshman beanie and go boola-boola at the home football games, she’s out of her mind.
1986		R.G. Barrett Real Thing 20: He had on an old pair of overalls and a beanie.
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 248: You ever seen a pimp in a propellor beanie? [Ibid.] 371: Baggy uniforms, teeny beanies, and granny spikes.
1996		P. Temple Bad Debts (2012) [ebook] The beanie, for Christ’s sakes. It’s Collingwood beanie.
2000		Indep. on Sun. Real Life 9 Jan. 8: Roll the beanie over your head until it’s full stretch below your ears.
2004		T. Winton ‘Big World’ in Turning (2005) 2: With beanies on our heads.
2008		IOL News (Western Cape) 4 Mar. 🌐 Troy’s raucous long-suffering mother and his chilled-out, beanie-wearing mate.
2013		Guardian On Line 24 Aug. 🌐 Main drag Colefax Avenue is lined with stores selling medical marijuana, dispensed by drawling pharmacists in red, gold and green beanies.
2016		Mother Jones July/Aug. 🌐 As Collinsworth and I stand around, inmates gather to look at our watches. One, wearing a cocked gray beanie, asks to buy them.
2018		I. Welsh Dead Man’s Trousers [35]: So ah head oot the door, collar up, beanie doon over the brows, skerf roond the mooth.
2018		G. Disher Kill Shot [ebook] Overalls, a greasy beanie and a high-vis jacket.
2020		G. Krauze What They Was 173: [R]ocking trackies and beanie hats.
2020		G. Disher Consolation 326: Huddled insidea coat, scarf and beanie.
2021		P Howard Braywatch 320: [T]he goys are all wearing beanies to cover their bald heads.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 43: Brain-dead tykes wearing Mickey Mouse beanies.

2. a blackjack, a cosh.

1953

W. Brown Monkey On My Back (1954) 113: Pretty soon it wouldn’t be safe there any longer. There’d be a shank in my ribs or a beanie laid over my skull.

3. (US) a slingshot.

1970

E. Thompson Garden of Sand (1981) 118: ‘Then will you make me a beanie when you come home?’ [...] He had been after his granddad to make him a slingshot for days.

4. (also Jew beanie) a yarmulkah, the skullcap worn by religious Jews.

1978		P. Theroux Picture Palace 50: Orthodox Jewish Boys, a small group of dark-eyed youngsters with beanies and side-curls.
1981		H. Gould Fort Apache, The Bronx 41: He’s an orthodox Jew [...] he refuses to take the beanie off.
1990		(con. early 1950s) J. Ellroy L.A. Confidential 449: Mickey Cohen in a robe and Jew beanie.
2000		M. Amis Experience 263: The guy in the beanie doing his stuff at the Wailing Wall.
2010		J. Ellroy Hilliker Curse 16: Her dad wore a Jew beanie and doted on her.