Beef (bēf), n. [OE. boef, befe, beef, OF. boef, buef, F. bœef, fr. L. bos, bovis, ox; akin to Gr. boy^s, Skr. gō cow, and E. cow. See 2d Cow.] 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. [In this, which is the original sense, the word has a plural, beeves (bēvz).]
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A herd of beeves, fair oxen and fair kine. Milton.
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2. The flesh of an ox, or cow, or of any adult bovine animal, when slaughtered for food. [In this sense, the word has no plural.] “Great meals of beef.” Shak.
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3. Applied colloquially to human flesh.
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