cattle beast

See also: cattlebeast

English

Alternative forms

• cattlebeast

Noun

cattle beast (plural cattle beasts or cattle)

1. An individual domesticated bovine animal; a singular form of the generalised plural cattle.

   Synonyms: (now uncommon) beef, bovine, (India) cattlehead, cow, (archaic) neat, (archaic, regional) neatbeast

   Hypernym: beast

   Hyponyms: cow, bull, bullock, calf, heifer, steer

   • 1883, Ontario Agricultural College and Experimental Farm, Guelph, Annual Report, Volume 8, 199,

     To aim at breeding, raising, and fattening one cattle beast from every ten cultivated acres of the Province.

   • 1970, New Zealand Department of Agriculture, New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 121, page xxvii,

     Similarly, people describe their ideal cattle beast with terms such as depth of body, depth of twist, blocky, […] .

   • 2005, New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 65, 80,

     The system is dependent on producers, abattoirs, meat wholesalers and meat retailers recording and managing information on each cattle beast using a ten-digit individual identification number.

Usage notes

The plural cattle beasts is used when referring to several individual beasts, while cattle is used when referring to a herd of them, collectively.