beat

Definitions

1. 1past tense

   of Beat

2. 2past participle

   of Beat

3. 3transitive verb

   To strike repeatedly; to lay repeated blows upon; as, to beat one's breast; to beat iron so as to shape it; to beat grain, in order to force out the seeds; to beat eggs and sugar; to beat a drum.

4. 4transitive verb

   To punish by blows; to thrash.

5. 5transitive verb

   To scour or range over in hunting, accompanied with the noise made by striking bushes, etc., for the purpose of rousing game.

6. 6transitive verb

   To dash against, or strike, as with water or wind.

7. 7transitive verb

   To tread, as a path.

8. 8transitive verb

   To overcome in a battle, contest, strife, race, game, etc.; to vanquish or conquer; to surpass.

9. 9transitive verb

   To cheat; to chouse; to swindle; to defraud; -- often with out.

10. 10transitive verb

    To exercise severely; to perplex; to trouble.

11. 11transitive verb

    To give the signal for, by beat of drum; to sound by beat of drum; as, to beat an alarm, a charge, a parley, a retreat; to beat the general, the reveille, the tattoo. See Alarm, Charge, Parley, etc.

12. 12intransitive verb

    To strike repeatedly; to inflict repeated blows; to knock vigorously or loudly.

13. 13intransitive verb

    To move with pulsation or throbbing.

14. 14intransitive verb

    To come or act with violence; to dash or fall with force; to strike anything, as, rain, wind, and waves do.

15. 15intransitive verb

    To be in agitation or doubt.

16. 16intransitive verb

    To make progress against the wind, by sailing in a zigzag line or traverse.

17. 17intransitive verb

    To make a sound when struck; as, the drums beat.

18. 18intransitive verb

    To make a succession of strokes on a drum; as, the drummers beat to call soldiers to their quarters.

19. 19intransitive verb

    To sound with more or less rapid alternations of greater and less intensity, so as to produce a pulsating effect; -- said of instruments, tones, or vibrations, not perfectly in unison.

20. 20noun

    A stroke; a blow.

21. 21noun

    A recurring stroke; a throb; a pulsation; as, a beat of the heart; the beat of the pulse.

22. 22noun

    The rise or fall of the hand or foot, marking the divisions of time; a division of the measure so marked. In the rhythm of music the beat is the unit.

23. 23noun

    A transient grace note, struck immediately before the one it is intended to ornament.

24. 24noun

    A sudden swelling or reenforcement of a sound, recurring at regular intervals, and produced by the interference of sound waves of slightly different periods of vibrations; applied also, by analogy, to other kinds of wave motions; the pulsation or throbbing produced by the vibrating together of two tones not quite in unison. See Beat. i., 8.

25. 25intransitive verb

    A round or course which is frequently gone over; as, a watchman's beat.

26. 26intransitive verb

    A place of habitual or frequent resort.

27. 27intransitive verb

    A cheat or swindler of the lowest grade; -- often emphasized by dead; as, a dead beat.

28. 28adjective

    Weary; tired; fatigued; exhausted.

29. 29noun

    the act of beating to windward; sailing as close as possible to the direction from which the wind is blowing

30. 30noun

    a stroke or blow

    "the signal was two beats on the steam pipe"

31. 31noun

    a regular rate of repetition

    "the cox raised the beat"

32. 32noun

    the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music

    "the piece has a fast rhythm"

    "the conductor set the beat"

    Synonyms

    rhythm
33. 33noun

    (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse

    Synonyms

    cadencemeasuremetermetre
34. 34noun

    the sound of stroke or blow

    "he heard the beat of a drum"

35. 35noun

    the rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart

    "he could feel the beat of her heart"

    Synonyms

    heartbeatpulsationpulse
36. 36noun

    a regular route for a sentry or policeman

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

    Synonyms

    round
37. 37noun

    a member of the beat generation; a nonconformist in dress and behavior

    Synonyms

    beatnik
38. 38noun

    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

39. 39verb

    wear out completely

    "This kind of work exhausts me"

    "I'm beat"

    Synonyms

    exhausttucker
40. 40verb

    be a mystery or bewildering to

    "This beats me!"

    "Got me--I don't know the answer!"

    Synonyms

    amazebafflebewilderdumbfoundflummoxgetgravelmystifynonplusperplexposepuzzle

    +3 more

41. 41verb

    come out better in a competition, race, or conflict

    "Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship"

    "We beat the competition"

    Synonyms

    crushshelltrouncevanquish
42. 42verb

    beat through cleverness and wit

    "I beat the traffic"

    "She outfoxed her competitors"

    Synonyms

    circumventoutfoxoutsmartoutwitoverreach
43. 43verb

    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"

44. 44verb

    hit repeatedly

    "beat on the door"

    "beat the table with his shoe"

45. 45verb

    strike (water or bushes) repeatedly to rouse animals for hunting

46. 46verb

    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"

47. 47verb

    stir vigorously

    "beat the egg whites"

    "beat the cream"

    Synonyms

    scramble
48. 48verb

    shape by beating

    "beat swords into ploughshares"

49. 49verb

    produce a rhythm by striking repeatedly

    "beat the drum"

50. 50verb

    make by pounding or trampling

    "beat a path through the forest"

51. 51verb

    move with or as if with a regular alternating motion

    "the city pulsated with music and excitement"

    Synonyms

    pulsatequiver
52. 52verb

    move rhythmically

    "Her heart was beating fast"

    Synonyms

    poundthump
53. 53verb

    indicate by beating, as with the fingers or drumsticks

    "Beat the rhythm"

54. 54verb

    sail with much tacking or with difficulty

    "The boat beat in the strong wind"

55. 55verb

    move with a flapping motion

    "The bird's wings were flapping"

    Synonyms

    flap
56. 56verb

    move with a thrashing motion

    "The bird flapped its wings"

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

    Synonyms

    flap
57. 57verb

    glare or strike with great intensity

    "The sun was beating down on us"

58. 58verb

    make a rhythmic sound

    "Rain drummed against the windshield"

    "The drums beat all night"

    Synonyms

    drumthrum
59. 59verb

    make a sound like a clock or a timer

    "the clocks were ticking"

    "the grandfather clock beat midnight"

    Synonyms

    tickticktackticktock
60. 60verb

    avoid paying

    "beat the subway fare"

    Synonyms

    bunk
61. 61verb

    be superior

    "Reading beats watching television"

    "This sure beats work!"

62. 62adjective

    very tired

    "was all in at the end of the day"

    "so beat I could flop down and go to sleep anywhere"

    Synonyms

    busheddead