Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

beastings

[bee-stingz]
See more synonyms for beastings on Thesaurus.com
noun (used with a singular verb)
  1. beestings.
Show More

beestings

or beast·ings, biest·ings

[bee-stingz]
noun (used with a singular verb)
  1. the first milk or colostrum of a mammal, especially a cow, after giving birth.
Show More

Origin of beestings

before 1000; late Middle English bestynge, Old English bȳsting, equivalent to bēost beestings (cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German biost, German Biest) + -ing -ing1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for beastings

Historical Examples

  • He said to Taircheal, "Whence have you come from, you eater of beastings?"

    Legends of Saints & Sinners

    Douglas Hyde

British Dictionary definitions for beastings

beastings

noun
  1. a US spelling of beestings
Show More

beestings

biestings or US beastings

noun
  1. (functioning as singular) the first milk secreted by the mammary glands of a cow or similar animal immediately after giving birth; colostrum
Show More

Word Origin

Old English bӯsting, from bēost beestings; related to Middle Dutch biest
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for beastings

beestings

n.

"colostrum," Old English bysting, from beost, a general West Germanic word (cf. Old High German biost, German Biest, Middle Dutch and Dutch biest, of unknown origin.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper