beef
beef
Beef (noun) means the meat of cattle, used as food. Example: “The butcher recommended slow-cooking the beef until it was tender.”
noun
1
The meat of cattle, used as food.
"The butcher recommended slow-cooking the beef until it was tender."
"We had roast beef for Sunday dinner."
"The recipe calls for ground beef."
2
A complaint, grudge, or ongoing dispute with someone.
"I have no beef with her; we just disagree about the project."
"What's your beef with him — did something happen?"
"The two rappers have had a public beef for years."
verb
1
To complain.
"Customers were beefing about the long queue outside the shop."
"He's always beefing about the weather, whatever it's doing."
"Stop beefing about the schedule and just get it done."
How to use beef
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishCattle meat — or, informally, a complaint or ongoing feud with someone.
When to use it
The "grudge/complaint" sense is informal slang, common in everyday speech and hip-hop culture but not used in formal writing.
Common pairings
have a beef with
roast beef
beef up
Vocabulary Flow
Build your vocabulary from words like beef.
Vocabulary Flow serves the next word, and the next — meaning, pronunciation and an example each time. Practice at your level, or learn English in your own language.
Start vocabulary practice
Word forms
- Plural
- beefs, beeves
- Third person singular
- beefs
- Past tense
- beefed
Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
The butcher recommended slow-cooking the _____ until it was tender.
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.
Class of 1800
beef joined the language around 1800.
See the full Class of 1800 →
Synonyms
View more →Related words
Rhymes for beef
See all rhymes for 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."
Featured in
Vocabulary lists that include beef:
