beat

verb (past beat; past participle beaten)

1》 strike (a person or an animal) repeatedly and violently so as to hurt or punish them.

    ↘strike repeatedly so as to make a noise.

    ↘flatten or shape (metal) by striking it repeatedly with a hammer.

2》 defeat in a game or other competitive situation.

    ↘surpass (a record or score).

    ↘overcome (a problem).

    ↘informal baffle: it beats me how you manage it.

3》 (of the heart) pulsate.

4》 (of a bird) move (the wings) up and down.

5》 stir (cooking ingredients) vigorously.

6》 move across (an area of land) repeatedly striking at the ground cover in order to raise game birds for shooting.

7》 Sailing sail into the wind, with repeated tacking.

noun

1》 a main accent or rhythmic unit in music or poetry.

    ↘a rhythm or rhythmic sound or movement.

    ↘a pulsation of the heart.

    ↘a periodic variation of sound or amplitude due to the combination of two sounds or other vibrations with similar but not identical frequencies.

2》 the movement of a bird's wings.

3》 an area allocated to a police officer and patrolled on foot.

    ↘a spell of duty allocated to a police officer.

    ↘a stretch of water fished by an angler.

4》 a brief pause or moment of hesitation.

adjective informal completely exhausted.

Phrases

beat about the bush discuss a matter without coming to the point.

beat the bounds historical mark parish boundaries by walking round them and striking certain points with rods.

beat the clock perform a task within a fixed time limit.

beat a (hasty) retreat withdraw.

beat time indicate or follow a musical tempo with a baton or other means.

off the beaten track in or into an isolated place.

to beat the band informal, chiefly N. Amer. so as to surpass all competition.

Phrasal verbs

beat someone down force someone to reduce the price of something.

beat it informal leave a place.

beat off vulgar slang (of a man) masturbate.

beat someone/thing off succeed in resisting an attacker or an attack.

beat someone up assault someone by hitting them repeatedly.

↘(beat oneself up) informal reproach or criticize oneself excessively.

beat up on someone North American way of saying beat someone up.

Derivatives

beatable adjective

beating noun

Origin

OE bēatan, of Gmc origin.