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beef

noun
/bif/US/biːf/UK

Etymology

From Middle English beef, bef, beof, borrowed from Anglo-Norman beof, Old French buef, boef (“ox”) (modern French bœuf); from Latin bovem (“ox”), from Proto-Italic *gʷōs, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws. Doublet of cow. Beef in the sense of “a grudge, argument” was originally an American slang expression: * attested as a verb “to complain” in 1888: “He'll beef an' kick like a steer an' let on he won't never wear 'em.”— New York World, 13 May; * attested as a noun “complaint, protest, grievance, sim.” in 1899: “He made a Horrible Beef because he couldn't get Loaf Sugar for his Coffee.”—Fables in Slang (1900) by George Ade, page 80. As to the possible origin of this American usage, it has been suggested that it can be traced back to a British expression for “alarm”, first recorded in 1725: "BEEF 'to alarm, as To cry beef upon us; they have discover'd us, and are in Pursuit of us". The term "beef" in this context would be a Cockney rhyming slang of thief. However, the continuous use of a similar expression, including its assumed semantic shift to 'complaint' in the United States from the 1880s onwards, needs further clarification.

  1. derived from *gʷṓws✻
  2. derived from *gʷōs✻
  3. derived from bōs
  4. derived from buef
  5. derived from beof
  6. inherited from bef

Definitions

  1. The meat from cattle or other bovines

    The meat from cattle or other bovines; especially, that from adults.

    • I love eating beef.
    • He was cooking beef for lunch.
    • But the cars & trucks held cartons of roast chickens, slabs of cheeses, loaves of bread, racks of hotdogs, case upon case of soft drinks, cases of bottled sparkling water, pies, cakes, roast beefs & baked hams.

  2. Bovine animals.

    • However, there were millions of head of beef roaming the plains of Texas.

  3. A bovine (cow or bull) being raised for its meat.

    • Do you want to raise beeves?
    • As when two lions in the ſtill dark night / An herd of beeves ſcatter or num'rous flock / Suddenly, in the abſence of the guard, / So fled the heartleſs Greeks, […]
  4. ›+ 14 more definitions

    1. A grudge

      A grudge; dislike (of something or someone); lack of faith or trust (in something or someone); a reason for a dislike or grudge. (often + with)

      • He's got beef over what you said.
      • He's got a beef with everyone in the room.
      • Remember what happened last fall? That's his beef with me.

    2. A criminal charge.

      • I'm in prison for attempting to kill two police officers (a genuine bum beef) and am alleged to be a part of a group of mad bombers.
      • The man most recently murdered is said to have been a key defense witness in the trial of two other Indians facing hanging beefs for their alleged killing of a guard.

    3. Fibrous calcite or limestone, especially when occurring in a jagged layer between shales…

      Fibrous calcite or limestone, especially when occurring in a jagged layer between shales in Dorset.

      • Medium-grey paper shales with beef.
      • […] beds of limestone and thin layers of 'beef' (fibrous calcite)[…]

    4. To complain.

      • “Don't you like the Red Room?” “The Red Room!” I gathered from his manner that he had not come to beef about his sleeping accommodation.
      • "Who's Precious?" she beefed when she saw the big tattoo running down my inner arm.

    5. To add weight or strength to.

      • First off, the axle housing was beefed by welding areas where extreme loading is evident (black marked areas).

    6. To fart

      To fart; break wind.

      • Ugh, who just beefed in here?

    7. To cry.

      • David was beefing last night after Ruth told him off.

    8. To fail or mess up.

      • I beefed my presentation hard yesterday.

    9. To feud or hold a grudge against.

      • Those two are beefing right now — best you stay out of it.

    10. To sing or speak loudly

      To sing or speak loudly; to cry out.

    11. Being a bovine animal that is being raised for its meat.

      • We bought three beef calves this morning.

    12. Producing or known for raising lots of beef.

      • beef farms
      • beef country

    13. Consisting of or containing beef as an ingredient.

      • beef stew

    14. Beefy

      Beefy; powerful; robust.

      • Wow, your audio setup is beef!

The neighborhood

Derived

Albany beef, baby beef, baron of beef, beefalo, beefaroni, beef bayonet, beef bourguignon, beef-brained, beefburger, beefcake, beef chit, beef curtains, Beefeater, beefer, beef flaps, beefhead, beefheaded, beefheart, beef house, beefhouse, beef-house, beef injection, beefish, beef jerky, beefless, beeflike, beef mami, Beefmaster, beef measles, beef olive, beef on the hoof, beef on weck, beef plate, beef rib, beefsteak, beef stew, beef tea, beef tomato, beef to the hoof, beef trust · +39 more

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at beef. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01beef02bovine03bison04bovid05cattle06cows07cow

A definitional loop anchored at beef. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at beef

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA