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Webster 1913 Edition

Beast

Beast

(bēst)
,
Noun.
[OE.
best
,
beste
, OF.
beste
, F.
bête
, fr. L.
bestia
.]
1.
Any living creature; an animal; – including man, insects, etc.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
2.
Any four-footed animal, that may be used for labor, food, or sport;
as, a
beast
of burden
.
A righteous man regardeth the life of his
beast
.
Prov. xii. 10.
3.
any animal other than a human; – opposed to
man
.
’Tain't a fit night out for man nor
beast
.

W. C. Fields.
4.
Fig.: A coarse, brutal, filthy, or degraded fellow.
5.
A game at cards similar to loo.
[Obs.]
Wright.
6.
A penalty at beast, omber, etc. Hence: To be beasted, to be beaten at beast, omber, etc.
Beast royal
,
the lion.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
Syn. –
Beast
,
Brute
.
When we use these words in a figurative sense, as applicable to human beings, we think of beasts as mere animals governed by animal appetite; and of brutes as being destitute of reason or moral feeling, and governed by unrestrained passion. Hence we speak of beastly appetites; beastly indulgences, etc.; and of brutal manners; brutal inhumanity; brutal ferocity. So, also, we say of a drunkard, that he first made himself a beast, and then treated his family like a brute.

Webster 1828 Edition

Beast

BEAST

,
Noun.
[L. bestia. See Boisterous.]
1.
Any four footed animal, which may be used for labor, food or sport; distinguished from fowls, insects, fishes and man; as beasts of burden, beasts of the chase, beasts of the forest. It is usually applied to large animals.
2.
Opposed to man, it signifies any irrational animal, as in the phrase 'man and beast.' So wild beast.
3.
Figuratively, a brutal man; a person rude, coarse, filthy, or acting in a manner unworthy of a rational creature.
4.
A game at cards. Hence to beast.

Definition 2024

Beast

Beast

See also: beast

English

Proper noun

Beast

  1. (biblical) A figure in the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse), often identified with Satan or the Antichrist.
    • 2000, Robert H. Smith, Apocalypse: a commentary on Revelation in words and images, page 69:
      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.
  2. A wild animal, or seemingly so, which roams free in a country it is usually only found in zoos. (For example The Beast of Bodmin Moor).

Translations

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Anagrams

beast

beast

See also: Beast

English

Alternative forms

Noun

beast ‎(plural beasts)

  1. Any animal other than a human; usually only applied to land vertebrates, especially large or dangerous four-footed ones.
  2. (more specific)  A domestic animal, especially a bovine farm animal.
    • Boxer was an enormous beast, nearly eighteen hands high, and as strong as any two ordinary horses put together.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess:
      ‘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 them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared. […]’
  3. A person who behaves in a violent, antisocial or uncivilized manner.
  4. (slang) A large and impressive thing or structure.
  5. (slang) Someone who is particularly impressive, especially athletically or physically.
  6. (slang, prisons) A sex offender.
    • 1994, Elaine Player, Michael Jenkins, Prisons After Woolf: Reform Through Riot (page 190)
      Shouts had been heard: 'We're coming to kill you, beasts.' In desperation, Rule 43s had tried to barricade their doors […]
    • 1994, Adam Sampson, Acts of Abuse: Sex Offenders And the Criminal Justice System (page 83)
      For many prisoners and in many prisons, antipathy towards 'nonces' or 'beasts' is little more than an idea […]
  7. (figuratively) Something unpleasant and difficult.
    • 2000, Tom Clancy, The Bear and the Dragon, Berkley (2001), ISBN 9780425180969, page 905:
      […] Even unopposed, the natural obstacles are formidable, and defending his line of advance will be a beast of a problem."
    • 2006, Heather Burt, Adam's Peak, Dundurn Press (2006), ISBN 9781550026467, page 114:
      He'd be in the hospital a few days — broken collarbone, a cast on his arm, a beast of a headache — but fine.
    • 2011, Florence + the Machine, "What the Water Gave Me", Ceremonials:
      And, oh, poor Atlas / The world's a beast of a burden / You've been holding up a long time

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

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Derived terms

Related terms

Verb

beast ‎(third-person singular simple present beasts, present participle beasting, simple past and past participle beasted)

  1. (Britain, military) to impose arduous exercises, either as training or as punishment.

Adjective

beast ‎(comparative more beast, superlative most beast)

  1. (slang) great; excellent; powerful
    • 1999, "Jason Chue", AMD K6-2 350mhz, FIC VA503+, LGS 64mb PC100 sdram (on newsgroup jaring.pcbase)
      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.
    • 2012, Katie McGarry, Pushing the Limits (page 37)
      Translation: a piece of crap, but the rest of the car was totally beast.

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English beeste, beste, from Old French beste (French: bête), from Latin bēstia ‎(“animal, beast”); many cognates – see bēstia.

Pronunciation

  • (UK, US) IPA(key): /biːst/
  • Rhymes: -iːst

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