beefeater Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun officer in the (ceremonial) bodyguard of the British monarch
    yeoman of the guard; yeoman.

WordNet

Beef"eat`er noun
Etymology
Beef + eater; prob. one who eats another's beef, as his servant. Cf. AS. hlafta servant, properly a loaf eater.
Definitions
  1. One who eats beef; hence, a large, fleshy person.
  2. One of the yeomen of the guard, in England.
  3. (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.

Webster 1913