beast

Pluralbeasts

Formsbeasts, beasting, beasted

1. 1
   large wild animalnouncountable

   An animal, especially a large or wild four-legged one; also animals as a group, as distinct from humans.

   The travelers feared the beasts that prowled the mountain passes.

   A beast as large as an ox blocked the narrow trail.

   Similaranimal, creature

   Note

   The King James Bible of 1611 still uses it that broadly, sorting the beasts that may be eaten by hoof and cud. Modern use leans toward the large and dangerous. A bear is easily called a beast, while a mouse rarely is. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The King James Bible was published in 1611. guides.library.yale.edu
   • The King James Bible uses beasts for animals and distinguishes those permitted as food by their hooves and cud chewing. en.wikisource.org
2. 2
   monster (creature)nouncountable

   A monstrously strange and dangerous creature, beyond an ordinary animal.

   Sailors told of a monstrous beast that dragged ships beneath the waves.

   The hero faced a beast no weapon seemed able to wound.

   Similarmonster

3. 3
   difficult thingnouncountable

   A thing or matter, especially one that is difficult or hard to manage.

   Quantum mechanics is a different beast from classical physics.

   Running a small farm is its own beast entirely.

   UsageMostly in comparisons: a different beast, a whole other beast, its own beast.

   Similaranimal, thing, matter

   Note

   Writers reach for it when something resists being filed with its apparent relatives, as when the narrator of Riley Sager's Final Girls calls murder "a stranger beast than suicide." The adjective does the real work, and the word itself adds a hint that the subject is unruly or hard to pin down. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Riley Sager wrote Final Girls. en.wikipedia.org
   • The narrator describes murder as "a stranger beast than suicide." The phrase appears in narration, rather than dialogue. pdfs.api-turbo.ai
4. 4
   powerful thingnounslangcountable

   Someone or something remarkably powerful, large, or impressive.

   Their flagship engine is a beast, producing twice the power of its rivals.

   The new server is an absolute beast, handling huge loads without slowing.

   UsageSaid as is a beast or a beast of a + noun: a beast of a truck.

   Similarmonster, powerhouse

   Note

   Slang praise for sheer size or power, used of stadiums, speakers and machines. The same frame turns into complaint in the "difficult thing" meaning, and context decides which is meant.

5. 5
   brutal personnouncountable

   Someone who acts with violence, savagery, or contempt for the norms of society.

   Years in the gang had made him a beast who felt no remorse.

   The mob became a pack of beasts, smashing everything in their path.

   Similarbrute, animal, savage, monster

6. 6
   farm animalnouncountable

   A domestic farm animal, especially a bovine such as a cow or ox.

   The herd numbered forty beasts, all ready for market.

   A single beast can graze several acres over a season.

   Similaranimal

   Note

   A farmer's word, chiefly in Commonwealth English, for an animal counted as stock, most often a head of cattle. Here it works like a unit of livestock (forty beasts, a fattening beast) and calls up nothing wild or threatening. George Orwell stretches it to Boxer, the enormous horse measured in hands and in strength. On the farm the word carries no menace at all. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

   • George Orwell calls Boxer, a horse, an enormous beast and describes his height in hands and his strength relative to other horses. orwellfoundation.com

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