ˈbēst noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English beest, beste, from Old French beste, from Latin bestia; perhaps akin to Lithuanian dvasas spirit, breath — more at dust
1.
a. : a living creature : animal as distinguished from plant
b. : any lower animal as distinguished from man
c. : a 4-footed mammal as distinguished on the one hand from man and on the other from birds and lower vertebrates (as fishes and reptiles) and from invertebrates
d.
(1) obsolete : any domesticated mammal
(2) : a game mammal
(3) : a wild mammal fierce by nature ; especially : a carnivorous wild mammal
(4) : an animal used for riding or draft ; especially : horse
(5) : a domestic bovine ; especially Britain : a fat or fattening butcher's steer
2.
a. : a person arousing contempt or loathing for any of a number of traits (as folly, great stupidity, coarseness, vileness, degradation, lust, or insensate brutality)
called me a beast and a satyr and asked me whether I had gone mad — Robert Graves
b. : a thing, situation, or condition felt to be hateful or offensive
a beast of a day, bleak, cold, and rainy
3. slang : girl : young woman ; especially : a coarse or unattractive woman