beef

[ beef ]

See synonyms for beef on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural beeves

[beevz] /bivz/ for 2; beefs for 4.

the flesh of a cow, steer, or bull raised and killed for its meat.
an adult cow, steer, or bull raised for its meat.

Informal.
- brawn; muscular strength.
- strength; power.
- weight, as of a person.
- human flesh.
Slang.
- a complaint.
- an argument or dispute.

verb (used without object)

Slang. to complain; grumble.

Verb Phrases

beef up,
- to add strength, numbers, force, etc., to; strengthen: During the riots, the nighttime patrol force was beefed up with volunteers.
- to increase or add to: to beef up our fringe benefits.

Origin of beef

First recorded in 1250–1300; 1885–90 for def. 5; Middle English, from Anglo-French beof, Old French boef, from Latin bov- (stem of bōs ) “ox, cow”; akin to cow¹

Other words from beef

beefless, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use beef in a sentence

A much nicer looking and easier-to-use Calendar, beefed up data and features in Maps, interactive textbooks in iBooks.
20 Life-Altering Developments Just Announced at Apple’s Life-Altering Worldwide Developers Conference | Winston Ross | June 10, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Set an aggressive goal of under a year to get that savings account beefed up.
Ask the Blogger | Megan McArdle | December 3, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
Around the country, police beefed up protection at Coptic churches.
Some Israelis to Obama: We Told You So | Dan Ephron | September 16, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
Three teens gunned down by the stepfather of some neighborhood boys they beefed with over Facebook.
Homicide Spike Terrorizes Philly | Jeff Deeney | January 29, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
The permitting process has also been beefed up, along with a drilling safety rule the Obama administration introduced in October.
Michael Bromwich on Preventing the Next Spill | Daniel Stone | April 20, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST

He had come down in his gig, to confer with Hilton as to the newly beefed-up fleet.
Masters of Space | Edward Elmer Smith
The ship, vastly beefed up, was moving at a good fraction of the speed of light.
Tulan | Carroll Mather Capps
Have you forgot how I fatted up the old cow and beefed her so that you could go and monkey with youclid and algebray?
Remarks | Bill Nye
Spotting him through the crack, Neff had simply beefed into the foot-thick slab of fireproof steel.
Brown John's Body | Winston Marks
They believe,” said Baird, “that they can handle the Niccola with their beefed-up tractor beams.
The Aliens | Murray Leinster

British Dictionary definitions for beef

beef

/ (biːf) /

noun

the flesh of various bovine animals, esp the cow, when killed for eating
plural beeves (biːvz) an adult ox, bull, cow, etc, reared for its meat

informal human flesh, esp when muscular
plural beefs a complaint

verb

(intr) slang to complain, esp repeatedly: he was beefing about his tax
(tr often foll by up) informal to strengthen; reinforce

Origin of beef

C13: from Old French boef, from Latin bōs ox; see cow 1

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with beef

beef

In addition to the idiom beginning with beef

beef up

also see:

where's the beef

Browse