Beef
Beef (bēf) , noun
[Old English boef, befe, beef, Old French boef, buef, French boef, from Latin bos, bovis, ox; akin to Greek boy^s, Sanskrit gō cow, and English cow. See 2d Cow.]
[In this, which is the original sense, the word has a plural, beeves (bēvz).]
1.
An animal of the genus Bos, especially the common species, Bos taurus, including the bull, cow, and ox, in their full grown state; esp., an ox or cow fattened for food.
A herd of beeves, fair oxen and fair kine.
[In this sense, the word has no plural.]
2.
The flesh of an ox, or cow, or of any adult bovine animal, when slaughtered for food.
Great meals of beef.
3.
Applied colloquially to human flesh.
Beef (bēf) , adjective
Of, pertaining to, or resembling, beef.
Collocations (1)
Beef tea , essence of beef, or strong beef broth.