*beas*

n. [ OE. best, beste, OF. beste, F. bête, fr. L. bestia. ] 1. Any living creature; an animal; -- including man, insects, etc. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any four-footed animal, that may be used for labor, food, or sport; as, a beast of burden. [ 1913 Webster ]

A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast. Prov. xii. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. any animal other than a human; -- opposed to man. [ 1913 Webster ]

'Tain't a fit night out for man nor beast.
W. C. Fields. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Fig.: A coarse, brutal, filthy, or degraded fellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A game at cards similar to loo. [ Obs. ] Wright. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A penalty at beast, omber, etc. Hence: To be beasted, to be beaten at beast, omber, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Beast royal, the lion. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]