Etymology
From Middle English beef, bef, beof, borrowed from Anglo-Norman beof, Old French buef, boef (“ox”) (modern French bœuf); from Latin bōs (“ox”), from Proto-Italic *gʷōs, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws. Doublet of cow.
Noun
beef (countable and uncountable, plural beef or beefs or beeves)
- (uncountable) The meat from a cow, bull or other bovine.
- I hate eating beef.
- (archaic) A generic term for a cow or bull (plural beeves).
- Do you want to raise beeves?
- (slang, countable) a grudge, complaint, or disagreement
- He has a beef with anyone who tells him otherwise.
Derived terms
- beef jerky
- beefsteak
- bully beef
- corned beef
- ground beef
- roast beef
- smoked beef
Verb
beef (third-person singular, simple present "beefs", present participle "beefing," simple past and past participle "beefed")
- (intransitive, slang) To complain.
- I gathered from his manner that he had not come to beef about his sleeping accommodation.
- (transitive, slang) To add weight or strength to.
- Synonym: beef up
- (intransitive, slang) To feud or hold a grudge against.
- Those two are beefing right now – best you stay out of it for now.
Derived terms
- beef up
- beef out
Credits
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors copied and adjusted this Wiktionary entry in accordance with NWE standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit for this article is due to both New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions at Wiktionary is accessible to researchers here:
