beast

noun

Save Word

\ ˈbēst

Definition of beast

1a : a four-footed mammal as distinguished from a human being, a lower vertebrate, and an invertebrate

b : a lower animal as distinguished from a human being

c : an animal as distinguished from a plant

d : an animal under human control

2 : a contemptible person

3 : something formidably difficult to control or deal with

Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More About beast

Keep scrolling for more

Examples of beast in a Sentence

dogs and other four-footed beasts the birds and beasts of the forest They were attacked by a savage beast. He's a cruel, hateful beast!

Recent Examples on the Web In some moments, Homotherium was a beast of terrible power and grace, able to fell young mammoths and cut off parts to carry off. — Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 June 2021 That said, man and beast have formed an enduring bond. — Mike Klingaman, baltimoresun.com, 18 May 2021 The San Felice Circeo area now represents one of the most important finds in the study of the ancient humans and the cave offers something of a time capsule that includes clues to the history of both man and beast. — Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, 11 May 2021 This 1,200-amp beast is ideal for camping and RVers. — The Popular Mechanics Editors, Popular Mechanics, 18 May 2021 At 6,604 square feet, this 10-bedroom, 11-bathroom home is a beast of a mountain lodge located within walking distance of Heavenly’s California lodge. — Annie Vainshtein, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 May 2021 Jones’s original Boss 302 was a beast, but this street-legal version is even more powerful. — Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 5 May 2021 From a performance perspective, V1 looks to be a beast, with a 1.8X uplift in vector workload performance, a 4X uplift in machine learning (ML) performance and a 2X increase in floating-point performance. — Matt Kimball, Forbes, 28 Apr. 2021 The Lions used the 10th overall pick in 2005 to select USC’s Mike Williams, who was a beast of a receiver in college but struggled to keep his weight down in the NFL and never lived up to his potential. — Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'beast.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.