beefs

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of beef.

   Customers aired their beefs about the slow service.

   His main beefs were about low pay and long hours.

   Note

   This plural only appears where beef can be counted. The meat itself is uncountable: you buy some beef, not three beefs. The plural belongs to the countable uses instead, such as portions of a cow sold as food or, uncommonly in US and Canadian usage, the animals themselves raised for meat. The slang senses of muscle and of a project's essence stay uncountable and take no plural.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of beef.

   He rarely beefs about the workload, but the new hours pushed him over the edge.

   Whenever a deadline slips, she beefs to anyone who will listen.

   Note

   A regular verb form that hides a crowd of slang meanings. Without an object, someone who beefs is usually complaining, often beefing about something or to someone. The same intransitive use can also mean breaking wind, crying in Yorkshire speech, or feuding in Multicultural London English. With an object, it means adding weight or strength, or botching something. Spelled exactly like the noun plural, it is sorted by context and by whether an object follows.

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