beef
/bif/noun, verb, adjective
beef is spelled B-E-E-F: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 19 times per million words in written English, the 4,365th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, beef means “The meat from cattle or other bovines; especially, that from adults” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of beef is beefs or beeves.
How many letters and syllables are in beef?
| Letters | 4: B-E-E-F |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 19 times per million words; the 4,365th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is beef?
Beef appears 19 times per million words in written English, the 4,365th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce beef?
- UK /biːf/
- British /bɪjf/
- US /bif/
Beef has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-beef.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with beef?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as beef from its last stressed vowel (/if/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of beef
- beefs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- beeves plural
- beefing participle, present
- beefed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does beef mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The meat from cattle or other bovines; especially, that from adults.
I love eating beef.
- 2
The edible portions of a cow (including those which are not meat).
lean finely textured beef
- 3
slangMuscle or musculature; size, strength or potency.
Put some beef into it! We've got to get the car over the bump.
- 4
slangEssence, content; the important part of a document or project.
The beef of his paper was a long rant about government.
- 5
Bovine animals.
- 6
CanadaUSA bovine (cow or bull) being raised for its meat.
Do you want to raise beeves?
- 7
slangA grudge; dislike (of something or someone); lack of faith or trust (in something or someone); a reason for a dislike or grudge. (often + with)
He's got beef over what you said.
- 8
slangA criminal charge.
verb
- 1
slangTo complain.
- 2
slangTo add weight or strength to.
- 3
slangTo fart; break wind.
Ugh, who just beefed in here?
- 4
To cry.
David was beefing last night after Ruth told him off.
- 5
slangTo fail or mess up.
I beefed my presentation hard yesterday.
- 6
slangTo feud or hold a grudge against.
Those two are beefing right now – best you stay out of it.
- 7
AustraliaslangTo sing or speak loudly; to cry out.
adjective
- 1
Being a bovine animal that is being raised for its meat.
We bought three beef calves this morning.
- 2
Producing or known for raising lots of beef.
beef farms
- 3
Consisting of or containing beef as an ingredient.
beef stew
- 4
slangBeefy; powerful; robust.
Wow, your audio setup is beef!
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Beef in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bœuf |
| German | Rindfleisch, Ochsenfleisch , afkeer (nl), heftige ergernis, Groll, heftige Verärgerung |
| Portuguese | carne de vaca, carne bovina, carne |
| Spanish | carne de res, carne de vaca, carne bovina, rotí, matagón , animosidad |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does beef come from?
From Middle English beef, bef, beof, borrowed from Anglo-Norman beof, Old French buef, boef (“ox”) (modern French bœuf); from Latin bovem (“ox”), from Proto-Italic *gʷōs, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws. Doublet of cow.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).