beef
pronunciation
How to pronounce beef in British English:
UK [biːf]
How to pronounce beef in American English:
US [biːf]
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- Noun:
- cattle that are reared for their meat
- meat from an adult domestic bovine
- informal terms for objecting
-
- Verb:
- complain
Word Origin
- beef
- beef: [13] Like mutton, pork, and veal, beef was introduced by the Normans to provide a dainty alternative to the bare animal names ox, cow, etc when referring to their meat. Anglo-Norman and Old French boef or buef (which of course became modern French boeuf) came from Latin bov-, the stem of bōs ‘ox’, from which English gets bovine [19] and Bovril [19]. Bōs itself is actually related etymologically to cow. The compound beefeater ‘yeoman warder of the Tower of London’ was coined in the 17th century; it was originally a contemptuous term for a ‘well-fed servant’.=> bovine, cow
- beef (n.)
- c. 1300, from Old French buef "ox; beef; ox hide" (11c., Modern French boeuf), from Latin bovem (nominative bos, genitive bovis) "ox, cow," from PIE root *gwou- "cow, ox, bull" (see cow (n.)). Original plural was beeves.
- beef (v.)
- "to complain," slang, 1888, American English, from noun meaning "complaint" (1880s). The noun meaning "argument" is recorded from 1930s. The origin and signification are unclear; perhaps it traces to the common late 19c. complaint of U.S. soldiers about the quantity or quality of beef rations.
Example
- 1. South korea is the fourth-largest importer of american beef .
- 2. Banks will also be required to beef up their risk management practices .
- 3. Their main beef is with politicians .
- 4. It intends to beef up the graphics abilities of its processors andwill one day start selling specialised graphics chips .
- 5. The beef protests seemed to reflect this .