beef

play

noun \ ˈbēf \

Definition of beef

plural beefs play \ˈbēfs\ or beeves play \ˈbēvz\

1 :the flesh of an adult domestic bovine (such as a steer or cow) used as food

2 a :an ox, cow, or bull in a full-grown or nearly full-grown state; especially :a steer or cow fattened for food

quality Texas beeves

a herd of good beef

b :a dressed carcass of a beef animal

3 :muscular flesh :brawn

4 plural beefs :complaint

See beef defined for English-language learners

See beef defined for kids

Examples of beef in a Sentence

I'm not eating as much beef as I used to.
My real beef is with the organization's president, not the group itself.

Recent Examples of beef from the Web

Here’s the bottom line: The Impossible Burger looks and tastes like beef, but not like fresh-ground prime.

— bud kennedy, star-telegram, "Starting a beef over burgers: Can Hopdoddy’s potato-wheat ‘Impossible’ burger win Cowtown’s heart?," 21 Aug. 2017
Their main beefs are anemic science funding and growing religious intolerance.

— sanjay kumar, Science | AAAS, "Indian scientists taking to streets en masse," 4 Aug. 2017
Larsen’s Steakhouse, UTC What will make Larsen’s unique from the city’s many steakhouses is its wet- and dry-aging process for prime cuts of beef.

— pam kragen, Pacific San Diego Magazine, "Know fare: So many new restaurants, so hard to pick a fave," 2 Aug. 2017
The kitchen orders 2,000 pounds of beef a week, 1,200 each of chicken and fish, 40 cases of eggs.

— steve reddicliffe, New York Times, "Mohonk’s Farm-to-Table Rebirth," 1 Aug. 2017
For several in our group, the hospitality of homemade plum brandy, a pork-and-beef dish called faschile and cherry cake served with frank conversation was a highlight.

— jane wooldridge, miamiherald, "The Danube dozen: How our bagel group sailed through eastern Europe without losing our T-shirts," 14 July 2017
The cafe serves a variety of Vietnamese dishes but is named for its signature, a beef pho (noodle soup).

— dana mcmahan, The Courier-Journal, "Traditional Vietnamese pho cafe replaces Tom + Chee on Bardstown Road," 5 July 2017
Negotiations due to end on July 16 have yielded some progress already, such as getting American beef back in Chinese stores, a small step toward addressing the $347 billion U.S. deficit on $578.6 billion in trade last year.

— Bloomberg.com, "China Trapping U.S. at Trade Table With 100-Day Sweetener Talks," 5 July 2017
After six long years of yelling at each other on Twitter over issues like race, music and nose jobs, the pair seem to have finally put their beef behind them.

— naomi gordon, Cosmopolitan, "Iggy Azalea Is Collaborating With Azealia Banks, Even Though She Once Threatened to Kill Her on Twitter," 4 July 2017

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

Illustration of beef

Origin and Etymology of beef

Middle English, from Anglo-French beof, bef ox, beef, from Latin bov-, bos head of cattle — more at cow

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

See Words from the same year

beef Synonyms

Synonyms

complaint, bitch, bleat, carp, fuss, grievance, gripe, grouch, grouse, grumble, holler, kvetch, lament, miserere, moan, murmur, plaint, squawk, wail, whimper, whine, whinge [British], yammer

Related Words

challenge, demur, expostulation, kick, niggle [chiefly British], objection, protest, quibble, remonstrance, stink

Near Antonyms

commendation, compliment, plaudit; acclaim, applause, praise; approval, endorsement (also indorsement), sanction

Other Food Terms

Reuben, calamari, chuck, curry, edamame, foie gras, hummus, leaven, nonpareil, peel

beef

verb

Definition of beef

transitive verb

:to increase or add substance, strength, or power to —usually used with up

money to beef up its staff of professional economists
—John Fischer

intransitive verb

:complain

always beefing about something

See beef defined for English-language learners

Examples of beef in a Sentence

She's always beefing about something.
he tends to stand around and beef for hours about any slight, real or imagined

Recent Examples of beef from the Web

At some intersections, Mancione said the village could beef up the number and type of camera currently available, and also consider installing at locations where there are no cameras currently, such as near 183rd and LaGrange Road.

— mike nolan, Daily Southtown, "Tinley considers beefing up network of surveillance cameras," 30 Aug. 2017
In light of his crackdown, Miami-Dade County has reversed a sanctuary policy and Texas beefed up laws to allow police to ask about immigration status on traffic stops and requiring law enforcement to honor detainers or face punishment.

— Washington Post, "Governor signs law limiting Illinois police on immigration," 28 Aug. 2017
The museum has also beefed up the Artmobile’s security with a sophisticated alarm system.

— brigit katz, Smithsonian, "Virginia Museum’s Historic Artmobile Will Hit the Road Again," 21 Aug. 2017
The effort, funded by an annual $200 million investment from the state, has brought San Diego County community colleges about $31 million over the past two years to beef up and promote area career education courses.

— gary warth, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Community colleges focus more on career education as classes start," 19 Aug. 2017
The Tigers usually have a tough schedule but have beefed it up this year.

— james weber, Cincinnati.com, "Class 1A preview: Beechwood football plays for titles each year," 8 Aug. 2017
Abolishing employment-tribunal fees would be a step forward, as would beefing up the tax office.

— The Economist, "The Uber dilemmaSelf-employed or employee? Britain wrestles with the gig economy," 13 July 2017
OSTP also housed an Office of the Chief Technology Officer, created in 2009 to beef up the White House’s digital capabilities.

— jeffrey mervis, Science | AAAS, "Trump’s White House science office still small and waiting for leadership," 11 July 2017
Ethics watchdogs say the Colorado and Washington cases should spur pot states to beef up ethics commissions charged with monitoring conflicts of interest by government employees.

— kristen wyatt, chicagotribune.com, "As pot comes out of black market, regulators face scrutiny," 21 June 2017