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beef - 7 dictionary results
beef
[beef] 
noun, plural beeves [beevz] for 2; beefs for 4, verb –noun
| 1. | the flesh of a cow, steer, or bull raised and killed for its meat. |
| 2. | an adult cow, steer, or bull raised for its meat. |
| 3. | Informal.
|
| 4. | Slang.
|
–verb (used without object)
—Verb phrase| 5. | Slang. to complain; grumble. |
| 6. | beef up,
|
Origin:
1250–1300; 1885–90 for def. 5; ME < AF beof, OF boef < L bov- (s. of bōs) ox, cow; akin to cow 1
1250–1300; 1885–90 for def. 5; ME < AF beof, OF boef < L bov- (s. of bōs) ox, cow; akin to cow 1
Related forms:
beefless, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To beef
| beef (bēf) n. pl. beeves (bēvz) or beef
To complain. Phrasal Verb(s): beef up Informal To make or become greater or stronger: beef up the defense budget. [Middle English, from Old French buef, from Latin bōs, bov-; see gwou- in Indo-European roots.] Word History: That beef comes from cows is known to most, but the close relationship between the words beef and cow is hardly household knowledge. Cow comes via Middle English from Old English cū, which is descended from the Indo-European root *gwou-, also meaning "cow." This root has descendants in most of the branches of the Indo-European language family. Among those descendants is the Latin word bōs, "cow," whose stem form, bov-, eventually became the Old French word buef, also meaning "cow." The French nobles who ruled England after the Norman Conquest of course used French words to refer to the meats they were served, so the animal called cū by the Anglo-Saxon peasants was called buef by the French nobles when it was brought to them cooked at dinner. Thus arose the distinction between the words for animals and their meat that is also found in the English word-pairs swine/pork, sheep/mutton, and deer/venison. What is interesting about cow/beef is that we are in fact dealing with one and the same word, etymologically speaking. |
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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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.Beef
Beef\, a. Of, pertaining to, or resembling, beef. Beef tea, essence of beef, or strong beef broth.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : beef
Spanish:
carne de vaca,
German:
das Rindfleisch,
Japanese:
牛肉
beef
c.1300, from O.Fr. boef, from L. bos (gen. bovis, acc. bovem) "ox, cow." Original plural was beeves. The verb meaning "to complain" is slang first recorded 1888. Beefy "brawny" is from 1743. Beefeater "warder of the Tower of London" (1671) is a contemptuous reference to well-fed servants of the royal household; the notion is of "eating another's beef" (cf. O.E. hlaf-æta "servant," lit. "loaf-eater"). To beef up "add strength" is from 1890.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: beef
Pronunciation: 'bEf
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural beefs /'bEfs/ or beeves /'bEvz/
: the flesh of an adult domestic bovine (as a steer or cow) when killed for food
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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beef
In addition to the idiom beginning with beef, also see where's the beef.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
