corned beef

noun

Smoke-cured and salted beef.

Meanings

nouncorned beef (countable and uncountable, plural corned beefs)

plural corned beefs · alternative corn beef · alternative corn-beef · alternative cornbeef · alternative corned-beef

  1. countableuncountableSmoke-cured and salted beef.
  2. countableuncountableBeef conserved in tins (cans).
    1 more example

    Here’s a grocery list of foods Chestnut has eaten competitively, drawn from his Major League Eating bio: apple pie, asparagus, boysenberry pie, brats, burritos, chicken spiedies (a kind of sandwich), chicken wings, chili, corned beef sandwiches, eggs, fish tacos, funnel cake, grilled cheese sandwiches, gyoza, Krystal hamburgers, horseshoe sandwiches, hot dogs, ice cream, jalapeno poppers, kolaches, pastrami sandwiches, Philly cheesesteaks, pierogi, pizza, pork ribs, pulled pork, poutine, salt potatoes, shrimp, tacos, tamales, turkey and Twinkies.

    2015 July 2, Michael Pearson, “6 things to know about hot dog king Joey Chestnut”, in CNN
  3. UKcountablehistoricalslanguncountableThe chief officer of a prison.

    Steve and I raced for the building and began climbing the wall, before any of the screws knew what was happening. […] The Corned Beef came out first and initiated the ploy to get us down.

    1999, Alex Alexandrowicz, David Wilson, The Longest Injustice: The Strange Story of Alex Alexandrowicz

Synonyms & antonyms

nounbeef cured or pickled in brine

Broader
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From corn (“to preserve (meat) in coarse corns of salt”, verb); (chief officer): rhyming slang for chief.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Cantonese 鹹牛肉 /咸牛肉
  • 鹹牛肉 /咸牛肉 (haam⁴ ngau⁴ juk⁶)smoke-cured and salted beef
Chinese Mandarin 醃牛肉 /腌牛肉, 罐裝牛肉 /罐装牛肉
  • 醃牛肉 /腌牛肉 (yānniúròu)smoke-cured and salted beef
  • 罐裝牛肉 /罐装牛肉 (guànzhuāng niúròu)beef conserved in tins
Estonian suitsuliha, konservliha
  • suitsulihasmoke-cured and salted beef
  • konservlihabeef conserved in tins
Finnish savunauta, säilykenauta
  • savunautasmoke-cured and salted beef
  • säilykenautabeef conserved in tins
  • nötköttibeef conserved in tins
French corned-beef
  • corned-beefsmoke-cured and salted beef
German Corned Beef, Cornedbeef
  • Corned Beefsmoke-cured and salted beef
  • Cornedbeefsmoke-cured and salted beef
  • Corned beefsmoke-cured and salted beef
  • gepökeltes Rindfleischsmoke-cured and salted beef
  • Kraftfleischsmoke-cured and salted beef
  • Rinderpökelfleischsmoke-cured and salted beef
  • Büchsenfleischbeef conserved in tins
Greek παστό βοδινό, παστό βοδινό
  • παστό βοδινό (pastó vodinó)smoke-cured and salted beef
  • παστό βοδινό (pastó vodinó)beef conserved in tins
Indonesian kornet, kornet
  • kornetsmoke-cured and salted beef
  • kornetbeef conserved in tins
Irish mairteoil shaillte, mairteoil leasaithe
  • mairteoil shailltesmoke-cured and salted beef
  • mairteoil leasaithesmoke-cured and salted beef
  • mairteoil shailltebeef conserved in tins
Japanese コーンビーフ, コンビーフ
  • コーンビーフ (kōnbīfu)smoke-cured and salted beef
  • コンビーフ (kōnbīfu)beef conserved in tins
Korean 콘비프, 콘드 비프
  • 콘비프 (konbipeu)smoke-cured and salted beef
  • 콘드 비프 (kondeu bipeu)smoke-cured and salted beef
  • 콘비프 (konbipeu)beef conserved in tins
  • 콘드 비프 (kondeu bipeu)beef conserved in tins
Malay konbif, konbif
  • konbifsmoke-cured and salted beef
  • konbifbeef conserved in tins
Māori pīwhi tote, pīwhi tini
  • pīwhi totesmoke-cured and salted beef
  • pīwhi tinibeef conserved in tins
Polish peklowana wołowina, peklowana wołowina w puszce
  • peklowana wołowinasmoke-cured and salted beef
  • peklowana wołowina w puszcebeef conserved in tins
Portuguese salgado, bife salgado
  • salgadosmoke-cured and salted beef
  • bife salgadosmoke-cured and salted beef
  • bife enlatadobeef conserved in tins
Russian солони́на, тушёнка
  • солони́на (solonína)smoke-cured and salted beef
  • тушёнка (tušónka)beef conserved in tins
Spanish carne en conserva
  • carne en conservabeef conserved in tins
Tagalog karne norte
  • karne nortebeef conserved in tins
Vietnamese thịt bò muối
  • thịt bò muốismoke-cured and salted beef
Yiddish פּעקלפֿלייש
  • פּעקלפֿלייש (peklfleysh)smoke-cured and salted beef
Cite this entry
APA

corned beef. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/corned%20beef

MLA

“corned beef.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/corned%20beef. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “corned beef,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/corned%20beef.

Source: corned beef on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.