To cry beef; to give the alarm. They have cried beef on us. Cant.—To be in a man’s beef; to wound him with a sword. To be in a woman’s beef; to have carnal knowledge of her. Say you bought your beef of me, a jocular request from a butcher to a fat man, implying that he credits the butcher who serves him.
Definition taken from The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.
See also the definition in Nathan Bailey's 1736 dictionary of canting and thieving slang.
Bed-Maker * Beef EaterNathan Bailey's 1736 Dictionary of canting and thieving slang
John S. Farmer's collection of canting songs and slang rhymes