beast
part of speech
noun (a beast, beasts); (slang) adjective-like use
meaning for a pupil
1) A beast is a large, wild or frightening animal. tree →
2) A beast is a cruel or nasty person. tree →
3) (informal) A beast is something very big, powerful or difficult: «That maths test was a beast.» tree →
4) (slang) Someone who is a beast at something is amazingly good at it. tree →
5) Beast can also be a gentle word for a small animal, such as a pet or a creature we feel sorry for. tree →
sense in the lessons
In fairy tales, «Beauty and the Beast». In the Bible (Bible), «beasts of the field» means animals; in the Book of Revelation «the beast» is an evil figure. In sport slang, «he's a beast» is praise. Phrases: «beast of burden» (an animal that carries loads).
examples
- The beast roared in the dark forest. tree →
- Beauty learned the Beast was kind inside. tree →
- That homework was a beast! tree →
- She's a beast at football — she scored five goals. tree →
- Donkeys are beasts of burden. tree →
- The bully was a real beast to the younger kids. tree →
- Chuchundra is a broken-hearted little beast. tree →
note
Countable. Adjective: beastly (old-fashioned UK for nasty). Slang «beast» can be praise or insult — the tone tells you.
In the corpora
- I can't bear to see that poor beast so unhappy ...
- The true story already has a giraffe from Africa that the emperor's court mistook for a lucky magical beast.
- Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.
- (22-18) Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.
- And ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «beast» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.