prey vs beast

prey and beast both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
prey	Yes	No	Yes	No
beast	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, beast is a hypernym of prey; that is, beast is a word with a broader meaning than prey:

Other hypernyms of prey include animal, animate being, brute, creature, fauna.

prey (noun)	beast (noun)
animal hunted or caught for food	a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
a person who is the aim of an attack (especially a victim of ridicule or exploitation) by some hostile person or influence	a cruelly rapacious person

prey (verb)	beast (verb)
profit from in an exploitatory manner
prey on or hunt for