BEAST
What does "BEAST" mean?
A large or dangerous four-footed animal, especially a wild one.
Meanings
- An animal, especially a large, wild, or four-legged one, as distinct from a human or bird. Lions, elephants, and other beasts gathered at the shrinking waterhole.
- A cruel, brutal, or savage person. The way he treated the staff made him a beast in everyone's eyes. figurative
- A person remarkably strong, skilled, or relentless at something. She's an absolute beast in the gym - nobody outlasts her. informal
- A difficult, formidable thing or task. That final exam was a real beast. informal
Did you know?
- English once called any animal a 'deor'; when the French 'beste' arrived to mean 'wild animal' generally, the old word survived only by shrinking to a single species - the deer.
Word origin
From Old French 'beste', from Latin 'bestia', a wild animal; it largely replaced the native Old English 'deor' (which narrowed to mean only 'deer').
Remember it
BEAST = 'BE A' + 'ST' (strong thing); or note it hides 'eat' - a beast is what eats, e-a-t in the middle of b-...-s-t.
A little poem
We name it monster, draw the door shut tight -
then in the dream it wears our own slow breath.
The beast was never out there in the night.
tercet
Wordplay
- Why did the gym rat love grammar? Because in the weight room, 'beast' is both a noun and a way of life.
What it teaches
Call something a beast and you stop trying to understand it; the label is where the thinking goes to die.
Quick facts
What does BEAST mean?
A large or dangerous four-footed animal, especially a wild one.
Is BEAST a valid word?
Yes — BEAST is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is BEAST?
BEAST has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does BEAST come from?
From Old French 'beste', from Latin 'bestia', a wild animal; it largely replaced the native Old English 'deor' (which narrowed to mean only 'deer').
What can BEAST teach us?
Call something a beast and you stop trying to understand it; the label is where the thinking goes to die.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.