eager beaver

/ˌˈigər ˌbivər/

Other forms: eager beavers

An eager beaver is someone who has an unbelievable amount of energy and enthusiasm — like the volunteer who shows up early because he's so excited to start working at the tutoring center.

Use the phrase eager beaver when you're talking about the first person to raise her hand in class or about the first volunteer to take out the trash. If you've ever witnessed a beaver building a dam, you have an idea of where this saying came from — beavers are unbelievably hard-working and industrious, completing impressive amounts of labor in a short time.

Definitions of eager beaver

1. noun

   an alert and energetic person
   synonyms: busy bee, dynamo, live wire, sharpie, sharpy

   types:

   goffer, gopher

   a person who energetically completes tasks for another person (especially an assistant or salesperson)

   type of:

   actor, doer, worker

   a person who acts and gets things done