Beast

(beest), n. [O. Eng. best, beste, O. Fr. beste, beste, now bête, Pr. & Lat. bestia, D., L. Ger., & Dan. beest, Sw. best, H. Ger. bestie.]

1Sense 1. Any four-footed animal, which may be used for labor, food, or sport; as opposed to man, any irrational animal.

A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast. Prov. xii. 10. Bowls that turned enamored youths to beasts. Dryden.

2Sense 2. A game at cards similar to loo. Wright.

Synonyms—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, &c., 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.

Strange, that a creature rational, and cast In human mold, should brutalize by choice His nature! Cowper.