Meaning of beat in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Verb
    1. Etymology
    2. Definitions
  3. Noun
    1. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    /bit/

    US accent Play button

    UK accent Play button

  1. Verb

    beat

    Etymology

    Old English bēatan, of Germanic origin

    Definitions

    1. come out better in a competition, race, or conflict

    Examples

    • « Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship »
    • « We beat the competition »
    • « Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game »

    Derived terms

  2. 2. give a beating to

    Examples

    • « subject to a beating, either as a punishment or as an act of aggression »
    • « Thugs beat him up when he walked down the street late at night »
    • « The teacher used to beat the students »

    Derived terms

  3. 3. hit repeatedly

    Examples

    • « beat on the door »
    • « beat the table with his shoe »

    Derived terms

  4. 4. move rhythmically

    Examples

    • « Her heart was beating fast »

    Derived terms

  5. 5. shape by beating

    Examples

    • « beat swords into ploughshares »
  6. 6. make a rhythmic sound

    Examples

    • « Rain drummed against the windshield »
    • « The drums beat all night »

    Derived terms

  7. 7. glare or strike with great intensity

    Examples

    • « The sun was beating down on us »
  8. 8. move with a thrashing motion

    Examples

    • « The bird flapped its wings »
    • « The eagle beat its wings and soared high into the sky »

    Derived terms

  9. 9. sail with much tacking or with difficulty

    Examples

    • « The boat beat in the strong wind »
  10. 10. stir vigorously

    Examples

    • « beat the egg whites »
    • « beat the cream »

    Derived terms

  11. 11. strike (a part of one's own body) repeatedly, as in great emotion or in accompaniment to music

    Examples

    • « beat one's breast »
    • « beat one's foot rhythmically »

    Derived terms

  12. 12. be superior

    Examples

    • « Reading beats watching television »
    • « This sure beats work! »
  13. 13. avoid paying

    Examples

    • « beat the subway fare »
  14. 14. make a sound like a clock or a timer

    Examples

    • « the clocks were ticking »
    • « the grandfather clock beat midnight »

    Derived terms

  15. 15. move with a flapping motion

    Examples

    • « The bird's wings were flapping »

    Derived terms

  16. 16. indicate by beating, as with the fingers or drumsticks

    Examples

    • « Beat the rhythm »

    Derived terms

  17. 17. move with or as if with a regular alternating motion

    Examples

    • « the city pulsated with music and excitement »
  18. 18. make by pounding or trampling

    Examples

    • « beat a path through the forest »
  19. 19. produce a rhythm by striking repeatedly

    Examples

    • « beat the drum »

    Derived terms

  20. 20. strike (water or bushes) repeatedly to rouse animals for hunting
  21. 21. beat through cleverness and wit

    Examples

    • « I beat the traffic »
    • « She outfoxed her competitors »
  22. 22. be a mystery or bewildering to

    Examples

    • « This beats me! »
    • « Got me--I don't know the answer! »
    • « a vexing problem »
    • « This question really stuck me »

    Derived terms

  23. 23. wear out completely

    Examples

    • « This kind of work exhausts me »
    • « I'm beat »
    • « He was all washed up after the exam »

    Derived terms

  24. Noun

    beat

    Definitions

    1. a regular route for a sentry or policeman

    Examples

    • « in the old days a policeman walked a beat and knew all his people by name »
  25. 2. the rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart

    Examples

    • « he could feel the beat of her heart »

    Derived terms

  26. 3. the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music

    Examples

    • « the piece has a fast rhythm »
    • « the conductor set the beat »

    Derived terms

  27. 4. a single pulsation of an oscillation produced by adding two waves of different frequencies

    Examples

    • « has a frequency equal to the difference between the two oscillations »
  28. 5. a member of the beat generation

    Examples

    • « a nonconformist in dress and behavior »
  29. 6. the sound of stroke or blow

    Examples

    • « he heard the beat of a drum »

    Derived terms

  30. 7. (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse
  31. 8. a regular rate of repetition

    Examples

    • « the cox raised the beat »

    Derived terms

  32. 9. a stroke or blow

    Examples

    • « the signal was two beats on the steam pipe »
  33. 10. the act of beating to windward

    Examples

    • « sailing as close as possible to the direction from which the wind is blowing »

Famous quotes

  • « My purpose is to make a movie to make you warm. To give you some heat. Now, this rational world has become a place where only what is cool is good. Do you cut the movie on the basis of the beat of modernity or the basis of the beat of your own heart? »
    Emir Kusturica
  • « The first requirement of politics is not intellect or stamina but patience. Politics is a very long run game and the tortoise will usually beat the hare. »
    John Major
  • « It is something that is called MDS. It is a rare blood disorder that affects the bone marrow. I'm going to beat this. My doctors say it and my faith says it. »
    Robin Roberts
  • « I stood up as best I could to their disgusting stupidity and brutality, but I did not, of course, manage to beat them at their own game. It was a fight to the bitter end, one in which I was not defending ideals or beliefs but simply my own self. »
    George Grosz
  • « I started writing rhymes first and then put it to the music. I figured out I could lock it to the beat better if I heard the music first. I like to get a lot of tracks, put the track up and let the music talk to me about what it's about. »
    Ice T

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