Adjacent Words

Beef definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BEEF, n. [L. bos,bovis; Gr.Bous.]
1. An animal of the bovine genus,whether ox, bull or cow; but used of those which are full grown or nearly so. In this, which is the original sense, the word has a plural, beeves.
2. The flesh of an ox, bull, or cow, when killed. In popular language, the word is often applied to the live animal; as, an ox is good beef; that is,is well fattened. In this sense,the word has no plural.
BEEF, a. Consisting of the flesh of the ox, or bovine kind; as a beef-steak.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: cattle that are reared for their meat [syn: beef, beef cattle]
2: meat from an adult domestic bovine [syn: beef, boeuf]
3: informal terms for objecting; "I have a gripe about the service here" [syn: gripe, kick, beef, bitch, squawk] v
1: complain; "What was he hollering about?" [syn: gripe, bitch, grouse, crab, beef, squawk, bellyache, holler]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural beefs or beeves) Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French beof, bef ox, beef, from Latin bov-, bos head of cattle — more at cow Date: 14th century 1. the flesh of an adult domestic bovine (as a steer or cow) used as food 2. a. an ox, cow, or bull in a full-grown or nearly full-grown state; especially a steer or cow fattened for food <quality Texas beeves> <a herd of good beef> b. a dressed carcass of a beef animal 3. muscular flesh ; brawn 4. plural beefs complaint II. verb Date: 1860 transitive verb to increase or add substance, strength, or power to — usually used with up <money to beef up its staff of professional economists — John Fischer> intransitive verb complain <always beefing about something>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 the flesh of the ox, bull, or esp. the cow, for eating. 2 colloq. well-developed male muscle. 3 (pl. beeves or US beefs) a cow, bull, or ox fattened for beef; its carcass. 4 (pl. beefs) sl. a complaint; a protest. --v.intr. sl. complain. Phrases and idioms: beef tea stewed extract of beef, given to invalids. beef up sl. strengthen, reinforce, augment. beef-wood 1 any of various Australian and W. Indian hardwood trees. 2 the close-grained red timber of these. Etymology: ME f. AF, OF boef f. L bos bovis ox

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Beef Beef (b[=e]f), n. [OE. boef, befe, beef, OF. boef, buef, F. b[oe]ef, fr. L. bos, bovis, ox; akin to Gr. boy^s, Skr. g[=o] cow, and E. cow. See 2d Cow.] 1. An animal of the genus Bos, especially the common species, B. taurus, including the bull, cow, and ox, in their full grown state; esp., an ox or cow fattened for food. Note: [In this, which is the original sense, the word has a plural, beeves (b[=e]vz).] A herd of beeves, fair oxen and fair kine. --Milton. 2. The flesh of an ox, or cow, or of any adult bovine animal, when slaughtered for food. Note: [In this sense, the word has no plural.] ``Great meals of beef.'' --Shak. 3. Applied colloquially to human flesh.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Beef Beef, a. Of, pertaining to, or resembling, beef. Beef tea, essence of beef, or strong beef broth.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(beefs, beefing, beefed) Beef is the meat of a cow, bull, or ox. ...roast beef. ...beef stew. see also corned beef

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bef.

See CATTLE.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Flesh of neat-cattle.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

To cry beef; to give the alarm. They have cried beef on us. Cant.--To be in a man's beef; to wound him with a sword. To be in a woman's beef; to have carnal knowledge of her. Say you bought your beef of me, a jocular request from a butcher to a fat man. implying that he credits the butcher who serves him.

Moby Thesaurus

Brahman, Indian buffalo, air a grievance, altercation, amperage, arm, armipotence, aurochs, authority, avoirdupois, beef cattle, beef extract, beef tea, beefiness, beefing, beeves, bellyache, bellyaching, bickering, bison, bitch, bitching, black power, bleat, blow off, boggle, bossy, bouillon, bovine, bovine animal, boycott, brawl, brawn, brawniness, brute force, buffalo, bull, bullock, bully, bully beef, calf, call in question, carabao, cattle, challenge, charge, charisma, charqui, chipped beef, clamor, clout, cogence, cogency, complain, complaining, complaint, compulsion, compunction, cow, crab, critter, croak, cry out against, dairy cattle, dairy cow, deadweight, demonstrate, demonstrate against, demonstration, demur, demurrer, destructive criticism, dint, dispute, dissent, dogie, dried beef, drive, duress, effect, effectiveness, effectuality, elasticity, energy, enter a protest, exception, expostulate, expostulation, falling-out, fatness, faultfinding, flower power, force, force majeure, forcefulness, fret, fret and fume, full blast, full force, fuss, gravity, grievance, grievance committee, gripe, griping, groan, groaning, gross weight, grouch, ground beef, grouse, grousing, growl, grumble, grumbling, grunt, hamburger, heaviness, heft, heftiness, heifer, holler, hornless cow, howl, huskiness, indignation meeting, influence, involuntary muscle, jerky, kick, kicking, kine, leppy, liveweight, lodge a complaint, main force, main strength, mana, march, maverick, might, might and main, mightiness, milch cow, milcher, milk cow, milker, moxie, muley cow, muley head, murmur, murmuring, muscle, muscle power, muscularity, musculature, musk-ox, mutter, neat, neat weight, net, net weight, nonviolent protest, object, objection, overbalance, overweight, ox, oxen, pastrami, peeve, peevishness, pet peeve, petulance, physique, picket, picketing, pizzazz, ponderability, ponderosity, ponderousness, poop, potence, potency, potentiality, poundage, power, power pack, power structure, power struggle, powerfulness, prepotency, press objections, productiveness, productivity, protest, protest demonstration, protestation, puissance, pull, punch, push, qualm, querulousness, raise a howl, rally, register a complaint, remonstrance, remonstrate, remonstration, rhubarb, roast beef, salt beef, scolding, scruple, sinew, sinewiness, sinews, sit in, sit-in, sniping, squabble, squawk, squawking, state a grievance, steam, steer, stirk, stot, strength, strike, strong arm, suet, superiority, superpower, take on, teach in, teach-in, thew, thewiness, thews, tiff, tone, tonnage, underweight, validity, vehemence, vigor, vim, virility, virtue, virulence, vitality, voluntary muscle, wattage, weight, weightiness, whining, wisent, yak, yammer, yap, yapping, yawp, yearling, yell bloody murder, yelp, zebu