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BEAST

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The Beast
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beast

  [beest]
Use BEAST in a Sentence
–noun
1. any nonhuman animal, esp. a large, four-footed mammal.
2. the crude animal nature common to humans and the lower animals: Hunger brought out the beast in him.
3. a cruel, coarse, filthy, or otherwise beastlike person.
4. a live creature, as distinguished from a plant: What manner of beast is this?
5. the beast, the Antichrist. Rev. 13:18.
Origin:
1175–1225; ME be(e)ste < OF beste (F bête) < L bēstia

Related forms:
beastlike, adjective

Synonyms:
1. See animal. 3. cad, swine, pig, brute, savage, ogre, monster, barbarian.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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The Beast
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beast   (bēst)   
n.  

    1. An animal other than a human, especially a large four-footed mammal.

    2. New England & Southern U.S. A large domestic animal, especially a horse or bull.

  2. Animal nature as opposed to intellect or spirit: "So far the beast in us has insisted upon having its full say" (William Dean Howells).

  3. A brutal, contemptible person.


[Middle English beste, from Old French, from Latin bēstia.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
beast

  1. n.
    an ugly person. : That beast should give the monkey back its face before the poor creature bumps into something.
  2. n.
    a crude, violent, or sexually aggressive male; an animal. : Oh, Martin, you're such a beast!
  3. n.
    liquor. : Pour me some more of that beast.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

beast 
c.1220, from O.Fr. beste, from L. bestia, replacing O.E. deor (see deer) as the generic word for "wild creature," only to be ousted 16c. by animal. British society slang beastly "exceedingly" dates from 1561.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Bible Dictionary

Beast

This word is used of flocks or herds of grazing animals (Ex. 22:5; Num. 20:4, 8, 11; Ps. 78:48); of beasts of burden (Gen. 45:17); of eatable beasts (Prov. 9:2); and of swift beasts or dromedaries (Isa. 60:6). In the New Testament it is used of a domestic animal as property (Rev. 18:13); as used for food (1 Cor. 15:39), for service (Luke 10:34; Acts 23:24), and for sacrifice (Acts 7:42). When used in contradistinction to man (Ps. 36:6), it denotes a brute creature generally, and when in contradistinction to creeping things (Lev. 11:2-7; 27:26), a four-footed animal. The Mosaic law required that beasts of labour should have rest on the Sabbath (Ex. 20:10; 23:12), and in the Sabbatical year all cattle were allowed to roam about freely, and eat whatever grew in the fields (Ex. 23:11; Lev. 25:7). No animal could be castrated (Lev. 22:24). Animals of different kinds were to be always kept separate (Lev. 19:19; Deut. 22:10). Oxen when used in threshing were not to be prevented from eating what was within their reach (Deut. 25:4; 1 Cor.9:9). This word is used figuratively of an infuriated multitude (1 Cor. 15:32; Acts 19:29; comp. Ps. 22:12, 16; Eccl. 3:18; Isa. 11:6-8), and of wicked men (2 Pet. 2:12). The four beasts of Daniel 7:3, 17, 23 represent four kingdoms or kings.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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