beef

14 synonyms for beef, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Noun — The meat of cattle, used as food.

Synonyms

Everyday swaps

Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.

meat dispute bitch kick

Less common

Still standard English, but they carry more weight.

grievance quarrel crab

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

cattle meat gripe squawk boeuf bellyache grouse holler

Synonyms by Meaning

1. noun

The meat of cattle, used as food.

“The butcher recommended slow-cooking the beef until it was tender.”

meat cattle meat grievance gripe quarrel dispute bitch squawk boeuf kick

2. verb

To complain.

“Customers were beefing about the long queue outside the shop.”

bitch bellyache crab grouse gripe squawk holler

How to use beef

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

have a beef with roast beef beef up

The "grudge/complaint" sense is informal slang, common in everyday speech and hip-hop culture but not used in formal writing.

Etymology

From Old French buef ("ox"), from Latin bovem, the same root that gives us "bovine." The slang sense meaning "a grudge" is American, first recorded as a verb ("to complain") in the late 1800s.

Full origin of beef →

Frequently asked questions

What does “beef” mean?

The word “beef” means the meat of cattle, used as food. In plain terms, cattle meat — or, informally, a complaint or ongoing feud with someone.

How do you pronounce “beef”?

“Beef” is pronounced beef (/bif/ in IPA).

How do you use “beef” in a sentence?

Here is “beef” used in a sentence: “We had roast beef for Sunday dinner.”

What part of speech is “beef”?

Depending on how it is used, “beef” can be a noun and a verb.

Where does the word “beef” come from?

The word “beef” dates back to around 1800 and comes from Latin. From Old French buef ("ox"), from Latin bovem, the same root that gives us "bovine." The slang sense meaning "a grudge" is American, first recorded as a verb ("to complain") in the late 1800s.

Is “beef” a common word?

“Beef” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.

How many meanings does “beef” have?

“Beef” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: the meat of cattle, used as food.

What is the difference between "beef" and "cow"?

A cow is the live animal, while beef is the meat that comes from cattle once it is prepared as food. English often uses different words for the animal and its meat, so you raise cows but eat beef.

Is "beef" countable or uncountable?

When beef refers to the meat, it is uncountable, so you say "some beef" rather than "a beef" or "beefs." When beef means a complaint or dispute, it becomes countable, as in "they have a beef with each other."

What are common collocations with "beef"?

Common food collocations include roast beef, minced or ground beef, corned beef, and beef stew. In the slang sense, people often say they "have a beef with" someone or want to "squash the beef."

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bitch kick meat dispute crab quarrel grievance gripe grouse bellyache squawk holler

Nearby words

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