Beef-steak Club

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

The present Beef-steak Club dates from 1876, but the original club of this name was founded about 1707. Its badge was a gridiron, and it was said to comprise "the chief wits and great men of the nation.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Common questions

What does “Beef-steak Club” mean?

The present Beef-steak Club dates from 1876, but the original club of this name was founded about 1707. Its badge was a gridiron, and it was said to comprise "the chief wits and great men of the nation.

Is “Beef-steak Club” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.