Meaning & Definition of Beat in English

1. A regular route for a sentry or policeman

• "In the old days a policeman walked a beat and knew all his people by name"

2. The rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart

• "He could feel the beat of her heart"

3. The basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music

• "The piece has a fast rhythm"

• "The conductor set the beat"

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

• Has a frequency equal to the difference between the two oscillations

5. A member of the beat generation

• A nonconformist in dress and behavior

6. The sound of stroke or blow

• "He heard the beat of a drum"

7. (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse

8. A regular rate of repetition

• "The cox raised the beat"

9. A stroke or blow

• "The signal was two beats on the steam pipe"

10. The act of beating to windward

• Sailing as close as possible to the direction from which the wind is blowing

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

• "Agassi beat becker in the tennis championship"

• "We beat the competition"

• "Harvard defeated yale in the last football game"

2. Give a beating to

• 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"

3. Hit repeatedly

• "Beat on the door"

• "Beat the table with his shoe"

4. Move rhythmically

• "Her heart was beating fast"

5. Shape by beating

• "Beat swords into ploughshares"

6. Make a rhythmic sound

• "Rain drummed against the windshield"

• "The drums beat all night"

7. Glare or strike with great intensity

• "The sun was beating down on us"

8. Move with a thrashing motion

• "The bird flapped its wings"

• "The eagle beat its wings and soared high into the sky"

9. Sail with much tacking or with difficulty

• "The boat beat in the strong wind"

10. Stir vigorously

• "Beat the egg whites"

• "Beat the cream"

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

• "Beat one's breast"

• "Beat one's foot rhythmically"

12. Be superior

• "Reading beats watching television"

• "This sure beats work!"

13. Avoid paying

• "Beat the subway fare"

14. Make a sound like a clock or a timer

• "The clocks were ticking"

• "The grandfather clock beat midnight"

15. Move with a flapping motion

• "The bird's wings were flapping"

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

• "Beat the rhythm"

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

• "The city pulsated with music and excitement"

18. Make by pounding or trampling

• "Beat a path through the forest"

19. Produce a rhythm by striking repeatedly

• "Beat the drum"

20. Strike (water or bushes) repeatedly to rouse animals for hunting

21. Beat through cleverness and wit

• "I beat the traffic"

• "She outfoxed her competitors"

22. Be a mystery or bewildering to

• "This beats me!"

• "Got me--i don't know the answer!"

• "A vexing problem"

• "This question really stuck me"

23. Wear out completely

• "This kind of work exhausts me"

• "I'm beat"

• "He was all washed up after the exam"

1. Very tired

• "Was all in at the end of the day"

• "So beat i could flop down and go to sleep anywhere"

• "Bushed after all that exercise"

• "I'm dead after that long trip"