BEEF (beeves)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: beeves   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does beef mean? 

• BEEF (noun)
  The noun BEEF has 3 senses:

1. cattle that are reared for their meat

2. meat from an adult domestic bovine

3. informal terms for objecting

  Familiarity information: BEEF used as a noun is uncommon.

• BEEF (verb)
  The verb BEEF has 1 sense:

1. complain

  Familiarity information: BEEF used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BEEF (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cattle that are reared for their meat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

beef; beef cattle

Hypernyms ("beef" is a kind of...):

Bos taurus; cattle; cows; kine; oxen (domesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or age)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "beef"):

longhorn; Texas longhorn (long-horned beef cattle formerly common in southwestern United States)

Santa Gertrudis (Brahman and shorthorn crossbreed of red cattle; hardy in hot regions)

Aberdeen Angus; Angus; black Angus (black hornless breed from Scotland)

Charolais (large white or cream-colored breed from France)

Durham; shorthorn (English breed of short-horned cattle)

Galloway (breed of hardy black chiefly beef cattle native to Scotland)

Hereford; whiteface (hardy English breed of cattle raised extensively in United States)

beefalo; cattalo (hardy breed of cattle resulting from crossing domestic cattle with the American buffalo; yields leaner beef than conventional breeds)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Meat from an adult domestic bovine

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

beef; boeuf

Hypernyms ("beef" is a kind of...):

meat (the flesh of animals (including fishes and birds and snails) used as food)

Meronyms (parts of "beef"):

cut of beef (cut of meat from beef cattle)

beef loin (cut of meat from a loin of beef)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "beef"):

ground beef; hamburger (beef that has been ground)

bully beef; corn beef; corned beef (beef cured or pickled in brine)

pastrami (highly seasoned cut of smoked beef)

Holonyms ("beef" is a part of...):

Bos taurus; cattle; cows; kine; oxen (domesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or age)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Informal terms for objecting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

beef; bitch; gripe; kick; squawk

Context example:

I have a gripe about the service here

Hypernyms ("beef" is a kind of...):

objection (the speech act of objecting)

Derivation:

beef (complain)

• BEEF (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they beef    ... he / she / it beefs   
Past simple: beefed   
Past participle: beefed   
-ing form: beefing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Complain

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

beef; bellyache; bitch; crab; gripe; grouse; holler; squawk

Context example:

What was he hollering about?

Hypernyms (to "beef" is one way to...):

complain; kick; kvetch; plain; quetch; sound off (express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

beef (informal terms for objecting)

 Context examples 

The study also didn’t examine the effects of specific types of plant- or animal-derived proteins, such as beef or fish.

(Protein Consumption Linked to Longevity, NIH)

Scientists assessed the strains of E. coli from infected humans and looked for the same strains in sewage, dairy farm slurry, human faeces, and contaminated foods including beef, pork, chicken, salad and fruit.

(Wash your hands or else spread superbug E. coli, say scientists, Wikinews)

It is found in whole milk, beef liver, eggs, soy foods, and peanuts.

(Choline, NCI Dictionary)

Coenzyme Q10 is fat-soluble (can dissolve in fats and oils) and is found in fatty fish, beef, soybeans, peanuts, and spinach.

(coenzyme Q10, NCI Dictionary)

Six of the 70 study participants evaluated for unexplained frequent anaphylaxis tested positive for an allergy to galactose-α-1,3-galactose, or alpha-gal, a sugar molecule found in beef, pork, lamb and other red meats.

(NIAID scientists link cases of unexplained anaphylaxis to red meat allergy, National Institutes of Health)

When on the red meat diet, the participants consumed roughly the equivalent of about 8 ounces of steak daily, or two quarter-pound beef patties.

(Study links frequent red meat consumption to high levels of chemical associated with heart disease, National Institutes of Health)

Their mutton yields to ours, but their beef is excellent.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

I hate cow-beef; it is not tender enough for me.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Grilled or well-done beef, chicken or fish may raise the risk of developing high blood pressure among people who regularly eat those foods.

(High Temp Grilled Meat May Raise Blood Pressure, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

It is found in beef and dairy fats.

(Conjugated Linoleic Acid, NCI Thesaurus)