Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - beef

 I. noun  (plural ~s or beeves)  Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French beof, bef ox, ~, from Latin bov-, bos head of cattle — more at cow  Date: 14th century  1. the flesh of an adult domestic bovine (as a steer or cow) used as food  2.  a. an ox, cow, or bull in a full-grown or nearly full-grown state; especially a steer or cow fattened for food quality Texas beeves a herd of good ~  b. a dressed carcass of a ~ animal  3. muscular flesh ; brawn  4. plural ~s complaint  II. verb  Date: 1860  transitive verb to increase or add substance, strength, or power to — usually used with up money to ~ up its staff of professional economists — John Fischer  intransitive verb complain always ~ing about something