beef

noun

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\ ˈbēf

plural beefs\ ˈbēfs

\ or beeves\ ˈbēvz

Definition of beef

(Entry 1 of 2)

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

2a : 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

beef

verb

beefed; beefing; beefs

Definition of beef (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

: to increase or add substance, strength, or power to —usually used with upmoney to beef up its staff of professional economists— John Fischer

intransitive verb

: complain always beefing about something

Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about beef

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Examples of beef in a Sentence

Noun I'm not eating as much beef as I used to. My real beef is with the organization's president, not the group itself. Verb She's always beefing about something. he tends to stand around and beef for hours about any slight, real or imagined

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Through this summer, the farm has donated more than 500 dozen eggs, 600 pounds of produce and 1,400 pounds of lamb, pork and beef to the Northfield Township Food Pantry in Glenview. — Karie Angell Luc, chicagotribune.com, "With in-person events limited this summer, Historic Wagner Farm in Glenview increases produce production for food bank," 15 Sep. 2020 The United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents workers responsible for the majority of U.S. beef and pork production, said no one from the White House or the USDA sought its input before the executive order was issued. — Michael Grabell, ProPublica, "Emails Show the Meatpacking Industry Drafted an Executive Order to Keep Plants Open," 14 Sep. 2020 Both play with speed and skill rather than beef and braun. — Randy Johnson, Star Tribune, "Led by Minnesota, influence of college hockey keeps growing in NHL," 9 Sep. 2020 Raw beef and chicken stored in single-use grocery store bags. — Ebony Day, The Arizona Republic, "Phoenix restaurant cited for storing meat in grocery bags, expired food," 2 Sep. 2020 Today, the Central Valley houses nearly 4 million beef and dairy cows. — Tom Philpott, Wired, "The Biblical Flood That Will Drown California," 29 Aug. 2020 In the briefing, deputy head of mission to Australia, Wang Xining, provided no clear answers to questions on whether Beijing’s subsequent trade sanctions on beef and barley exports were reprisals. — Jason Scott, Bloomberg.com, "China Belt and Road Plans for Australia Face Veto Under New Law," 29 Aug. 2020 And the trees' water consumption per gallon is much lower than the amount of water needed to produce beef and other livestock. — Casey Barber, CNN, "Try this Earth-friendly diet: How to shop, cook and eat to fight climate change," 24 Aug. 2020 These meatballs are made from beef and pork rather than chicken and noodles, which will also affect those that are allergic or choose not to consume those ingredients. — Katlyn Moncada, Better Homes & Gardens, "If You Stocked Up on Canned Goods, Check Your Pantry for This Recalled Chicken Noodle Soup," 19 Aug. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Even before interleague play, the teams played an in-season exhibition game in the mid-1980s called the Crosstown Classic, which drew a crowd of 42,600 to old Comiskey Park in 1985 and caused the Sox to beef up security. — Paul Sullivan, chicagotribune.com, "Column: No hype necessary for the White Sox-Cubs City Series, even during a pandemic," 21 Aug. 2020 This has helped the county pinpoint where to beef up enforcement or education and let's the public also see where there are risks, said Eyal Oren, an epidemiologist at San Diego State University. — Julie Watson, Star Tribune, "For California's big cities, San Diego in a class by itself," 3 Sep. 2020 Chan noted the need for Costco to beef up its presence online. — Laura He, CNN, "Sea cucumbers are helping Costco clean up in China," 27 Aug. 2020 The CARES Act dollars will allow the city to beef up its networking equipment, beaming Wi-Fi from equipment atop Ensign Peak, and create more internet access points that are available to the public. — Leia Larsen, The Salt Lake Tribune, "Salt Lake City could use COVID-19 funds to improve digital equity," 24 Aug. 2020 For more responsible kids, beef up their kit accordingly. — Popular Science, "11 essential items for four specialized survival kits," 18 Aug. 2020 And dinner options, among others, were basil Parmesan chicken, veal Sorrento with ham, and beef short ribs. — Lesley Kennedy, CNN Underscored, "9 delicious keto meal and snack delivery services," 17 Aug. 2020 Meanwhile, libraries worked to beef up their virtual holdings, including e-books, audiobooks, magazines, newspapers, videos and digital comic books. — Dallas News, "Garland libraries are reaching residents online during the coronavirus pandemic," 5 Aug. 2020 And now, the Space Force will have to beef it out with another TV show to maintain the rights to the image, as Space Force, the new Netflix comedy of the same name, is in hot pursuit of the exact same logo. — Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, "Whoops, the Real Space Force May Lose Its Trademark to the Fake One," 8 June 2020

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.