Plural of betatter; things or people that tear or reduce something to tatters; agents of destruction that create rags.
From 'betatter' (verb) + '-s' (nominalization and pluralization suffix). Can refer either to active agents doing the tattering or to worn items that are betattered.
This word almost never appears because modern English prefers simple nouns ('rags,' 'scraps') over agent nouns from old verbs, but it shows how productive '-er' was in historical English for naming anyone or anything that 'does' an action.
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