Beast (?), n. [OE. best, beste, OF. beste, F. bete, fr. L. bestia.] 1. Any living creature; an animal; -- including man, insects, etc. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
2. Any four-footed animal, that may be used for labor, food, or sport; as, a beast of burden.
A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast.
Prov. xii. 10.
3. As opposed to man: Any irrational animal.
4. Fig.: A coarse, brutal, filthy, or degraded fellow.
5. A game at cards similar to loo. [Obs.]
Wright.
6. A penalty at beast, omber, etc. Hence: To be beasted, to be beaten at beast, omber, etc.
Beast royal, the lion. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Syn. -- Beast, Brute. When we use these words in a figurative sense, as applicable to human beings, we think of beasts as mere animals governed by animal appetite; and of brutes as being destitute of reason or moral feeling, and governed by unrestrained passion. Hence we speak of beastly appetites; beastly indulgences, etc.; and of brutal manners; brutal inhumanity; brutal ferocity. So, also, we say of a drunkard, that he first made himself a beast, and then treated his family like a brute.
© Webster 1913. | 
