/biːst/
OriginFrom Middle English beeste, beste, from Old French beste (French bête), from Latin bēstia (“animal, beast”); many cognates – see bēstia.
- An animal, especially a large or dangerous land vertebrate.
“Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.”
- A domestic animal, especially a bovine farm animal.
“[…] it always had the making of a fine beast about it, but up to the time I had it up here in a stall by itself it did not get the chance to make any headway [ie, fatten], all its mates were down on i”
“Boxer was an enormous beast, nearly eighteen hands high, and as strong as any two ordinary horses put together.”
“‘Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw. Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on ”
- collective, oftenAll non-human animals seen as a group.
“Language is what separates man and beast.”
- A monstrously unusual and dangerous animal.
- A person who behaves in a violent, antisocial or uncivilized manner.
- slangAnything regarded as larger or more powerful than one of its normal size or strength.
“That is a beast of a stadium.”
“The subwoofer that comes with this set of speakers is a beast.”
- slangSomeone who is particularly impressive, especially athletically or physically.
- figurativelySomething unpleasant and difficult.
“[…] Even unopposed, the natural obstacles are formidable, and defending his line of advance will be a beast of a problem."”
“He'd be in the hospital a few days — broken collarbone, a cast on his arm, a beast of a headache — but fine.”
- A thing or matter, especially a difficult or unruly one.
“Now, the nucleus of a heavy element is a very peculiar beast.”
“'Lucy Leave', also known as 'Lucy Lea in Blue Tights', is a stranger beast altogether. Musically it is as derivative as everything else the band was playing at this time”
“But Wasting Light, recorded analog to tape (API 1608 32track, two Studer 827s) with no computers, not even to mix or master, is an entirely different beast.”
- BritishTo impose arduous exercises, either as training or as punishment.
- Scotland, slang, transitiveTo engage in sexual intercourse with, particularly in an illicit context.
“That teacher is under investigation for beasting wee 'uns.”
- slanggreat; excellent; powerful
“There is another type from Siemens which is the HYB 39S64XXX(AT/ATL) -8B version (notice the "B" and the end) which is totally beast altogether.”
“Translation: a piece of crap, but the rest of the car was totally beast.”
- A figure in the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse), often identified with Satan or the Antichrist.
“The Number of the Beast Is 666 (13:16-18) John's vision concludes with the notorious reference to the "mark of the beast" and the number 666.”
- A wild, or seemingly-wild, animal that roams free in a country where it is usually only found in zoos.
“the Beast of Bodmin Moor”
- US, slangA cadet's basic training at West Point.
“Plebes spend their first summer at Cadet Basic Training — Beast Barracks — where they get soldierized.”
“I was able to keep up with the herd and evade the Beast. Cadet Basic Training ended with a rigorous twenty four-hour exercise that included a twelve-mile, rite-of-passage road march to West Point […]”
- Internet, abbreviation, acronym, alt-ofAcronym of Browser Exploit Against SSL/TLS.
Formsbeasts(plural) · beest(alternative, obsolete) · beasts(present, singular, third-person) · beasting(participle, present) · beasted(participle, past) · beasted(past) · more beast(comparative) · most beast(superlative) · the Beast(canonical)