beef

American  

[beef] / bif /

noun

beeves, plural beefs plural

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.

   1. brawn; muscular strength.

   2. strength; power.

   3. weight, as of a person.

   4. human flesh.

4. Slang.

   1. a complaint.

   2. an argument or dispute.

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verb (used without object)

1. Slang. to complain; grumble.

verb phrase

1. beef up

   1. to add strength, numbers, force, etc., to; strengthen.

      During the riots, the nighttime patrol force was beefed up with volunteers.

   2. to increase or add to.

      to beef up our fringe benefits.

beef British  

/ biːf /

noun

1. the flesh of various bovine animals, esp the cow, when killed for eating

2. an adult ox, bull, cow, etc, reared for its meat

3. informal human flesh, esp when muscular

4. a complaint

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verb

1. slang (intr) to complain, esp repeatedly

   he was beefing about his tax

2. informal to strengthen; reinforce

beef Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing beef

• where's the beef

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Other Word Forms

• beefless
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of beef

First recorded in 1250–1300; 1885–90 beef for def. 5; Middle English, from Anglo-French beof, Old French boef, from Latin bov- (stem of bōs ) “ox, cow”; akin to cow ¹

Explanation

Beef is meat from a cow. It's also a word for a complaint. If you have a beef with someone, you’re not sharing a steak, you have a gripe. Just don’t beef to a cow; her problems are worse. Beef is a type of meat from cattle. If you've ever had a hamburger, you've had beef. The word beef comes from the Old French word buef, which became the word for basically, cow meat. Beef is to cow as pork is to pig or mutton is to sheep. On the other hand, if you have a beef with someone, you have a complaint. Beefing is expressing such feelings.

Example Sentences

The price of a pound of ground beef has reached a historic high of $6.89, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show, meaning throwing burgers on the grill will cost nearly 20% more than in 2025.

From MarketWatch • May 22, 2026

They're the first projects he's released since his beef with US rapper Kendrick Lamar escalated in 2024.

From BBC • May 22, 2026

"When beef is consumed as part of a healthy dietary pattern, it helps fill essential nutritional gaps and does not adversely impact the cardiometabolic risk profile compared to poultry."

From Science Daily • May 22, 2026

The menu helped beef up repeat visits at Burger King in January even after the promotion ended, Kobza said.

From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2026

Three days earlier one of my dogs had stopped eating any of the meats I had sent for the dogs—pork, lamb, beef, liver, and dry dog food.

From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen

Related Words

• meat