Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A yeoman of the British monarch's royal guard.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who eats beef; hence, a well-fed fellow; a stout fleshy man.
  • noun One of the yeomen of the English royal guard, who, since the accession of Henry VII. in 1485, have attended the sovereign at state banquets and on other ceremonial occasions. The name is also given to the warders of the Tower of London, who wear a similar uniform.
  • noun An African insessorial bird, of the genus Buphaga, which feeds on the larvæ that infest the hides of oxen.
  • noun Same as bluebottle, 2.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who eats beef; hence, a large, fleshy person.
  • noun One of the yeomen of the guard, in England.
  • noun (Zoöl.) An African bird of the genus Buphaga, which feeds on the larvæ of botflies hatched under the skin of oxen, antelopes, etc. Two species are known.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An African bird of the genus Buphaga, which feeds on the larvae of botflies hatched under the skin of oxen, antelopes, etc.
  • noun obsolete One who eats beef; a large, fleshy person; a well-fed servant.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun officer in the (ceremonial) bodyguard of the British monarch

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Earlier, well-fed servant.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

beef +‎ eater

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