beast

Etymology

From Middle English beeste, beste, from Old French beste (French bête), from Latin bēstia (“animal, beast”); many cognates – see bēstia.

noun

1. An animal, especially a large or dangerous land vertebrate.
   1. (chiefly in Commonwealth English, more specifically) A domestic animal, especially a bovine farm animal.
      […] it always had the making of a fine beast about it, but up to the time I had it up here in a stall by itself it did not get the chance to make any headway [ie, fatten], all its mates were down on it and it never seemed to fill itself. […] A big framed beast takes a lot of food — expensive food at that [—] to keep it doing […] 1908-09-21, “The fattening beast”, in Mark Lane Express Agricultural Journal, page 340
      ‘Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw. Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared. […]’ 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess
   2. (often collective) All non-human animals seen as a group.
      Language is what separates man and beast.
   3. A monstrously unusual and dangerous animal.
2. A person who behaves in a violent, antisocial or uncivilized manner.
3. (slang) Anything regarded as larger or more powerful than one of its normal size or strength.
   That is a beast of a stadium.
   The subwoofer that comes with this set of speakers is a beast.
4. (slang) Someone who is particularly impressive, especially athletically or physically.
5. (prison slang, derogatory) A sex offender.
   Shouts had been heard: 'We're coming to kill you, beasts.' In desperation, Rule 43s had tried to barricade their doors[…] 1994, Elaine Player, Michael Jenkins, Prisons After Woolf: Reform Through Riot, page 190
   For many prisoners and in many prisons, antipathy towards 'nonces' or 'beasts' is little more than an idea[…] 1994, Adam Sampson, Acts of Abuse: Sex Offenders And the Criminal Justice System, page 83
6. (figurative) Something unpleasant and difficult.
   […] Even unopposed, the natural obstacles are formidable, and defending his line of advance will be a beast of a problem." 2000, Tom Clancy, The Bear and the Dragon, Berkley, published 2001, page 905
   He'd be in the hospital a few days — broken collarbone, a cast on his arm, a beast of a headache — but fine. 2006, Heather Burt, Adam's Peak, Dundurn Press, published 2006, page 114
7. A thing or matter, especially a difficult or unruly one.
   Now, the nucleus of a heavy element is a very peculiar beast. 2003, John Derbyshire, Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problems in Mathematics
   'Lucy Leave', also known as 'Lucy Lea in Blue Tights', is a stranger beast altogether. Musically it is as derivative as everything else the band was playing at this time 2010, Rob Chapman, A Very Irregular Head: The Life of Syd Barrett, page 65
   But Wasting Light, recorded analog to tape (API 1608 32track, two Studer 827s) with no computers, not even to mix or master, is an entirely different beast. 2012, Kylee Swenson Gordon, Electronic Musician Presents the Recording Secrets Behind 50 Great Albums
   Murder is a stranger beast than suicide, although the end result of both is the same. 2017, Riley Sager, Final Girls, page 141

verb

1. (Britain, military) to impose arduous exercises, either as training or as punishment.
2. (Scotland, slang) to engage in sexual intercourse, particularly in an illicit context
   That teacher is under investigation for beasting wee 'uns.

adj

1. (slang, chiefly Midwestern and northeastern US) great; excellent; powerful
   There is another type from Siemens which is the HYB 39S64XXX(AT/ATL) -8B version (notice the "B" and the end) which is totally beast altogether. 1999, Jason Chue, “AMD K6-2 350mhz, FIC VA503+, LGS 64mb PC100 sdram”, in jaring.pcbase (Usenet)
   Translation: a piece of crap, but the rest of the car was totally beast. 2012, Katie McGarry, Pushing the Limits, page 37