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beat - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'beat' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Beat [ a.]
- Weary; tired; fatigued; exhausted.
2 . Beat [ imp.]
- of Beat
3 . Beat [ n.]
- A stroke; a blow.
- A recurring stroke; a throb; a pulsation; as, a beat of the heart; the beat of the pulse.
- 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.
- A transient grace note, struck immediately before the one it is intended to ornament.
- 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, v. i., 8.
4 . Beat [ p. p.]
- of Beat
5 . Beat [ v. i.]
- To strike repeatedly; to inflict repeated blows; to knock vigorously or loudly.
- To move with pulsation or throbbing.
- To come or act with violence; to dash or fall with force; to strike anything, as, rain, wind, and waves do.
- To be in agitation or doubt.
- To make progress against the wind, by sailing in a zigzag line or traverse.
- To make a sound when struck; as, the drums beat.
- To make a succession of strokes on a drum; as, the drummers beat to call soldiers to their quarters.
- 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.
- A round or course which is frequently gone over; as, a watchman's beat.
- A place of habitual or frequent resort.
- A cheat or swindler of the lowest grade; -- often emphasized by dead; as, a dead beat.
6 . Beat [ v. t.]
- 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.
- To punish by blows; to thrash.
- To scour or range over in hunting, accompanied with the noise made by striking bushes, etc., for the purpose of rousing game.
- To dash against, or strike, as with water or wind.
- To tread, as a path.
- To overcome in a battle, contest, strife, race, game, etc.; to vanquish or conquer; to surpass.
- To cheat; to chouse; to swindle; to defraud; -- often with out.
- To exercise severely; to perplex; to trouble.
- 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.

Meaning of 'beat' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . beat [ n]
Meaning (1):
- the rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart
Example in sentence:
  • he could feel the beat of her heart
Meaning (2):
- the sound of stroke or blow
Example in sentence:
  • he heard the beat of a drum
Meaning (3):
- a regular route for a sentry or policeman
Example in sentence:
  • in the old days a policeman walked a beat and knew all his people by name
Meaning (4):
- the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music
Example in sentence:
  • the conductor set the beat;
  • the piece has a fast rhythm
Meaning (5):
- a regular rate of repetition
Example in sentence:
  • the cox raised the beat
Meaning (6):
- a stroke or blow
Example in sentence:
  • the signal was two beats on the steam pipe
7 . beat [ v]
Meaning (7):
- be a mystery or bewildering to
Example in sentence:
  • a vexing problem;
  • Got me--I don't know the answer!;
  • This beats me!;
  • This question really stuck me
Meaning (8):
- come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
Example in sentence:
  • Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship;
  • Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game;
  • We beat the competition
Meaning (9):
- make by pounding or trampling
Example in sentence:
  • beat a path through the forest
Meaning (10):
- hit repeatedly
Example in sentence:
  • beat on the door;
  • beat the table with his shoe
Meaning (11):
- strike (a part of one's own body) repeatedly, as in great emotion or in accompaniment to music
Example in sentence:
  • beat one's breast;
  • beat one's foot rhythmically
Meaning (12):
- shape by beating
Example in sentence:
  • beat swords into ploughshares
Meaning (13):
- stir vigorously
Example in sentence:
  • beat the cream;
  • beat the egg whites
Meaning (14):
- produce a rhythm by striking repeatedly
Example in sentence:
  • beat the drum
Meaning (15):
- indicate by beating, as with the fingers or drumsticks
Example in sentence:
  • Beat the rhythm
Meaning (16):
- avoid paying
Example in sentence:
  • beat the subway fare
Meaning (17):
- wear out completely
Example in sentence:
  • He was all washed up after the exam;
  • I'm beat;
  • This kind of work exhausts me
Meaning (18):
- move rhythmically
Example in sentence:
  • Her heart was beating fast
Meaning (19):
- beat through cleverness and wit
Example in sentence:
  • I beat the traffic;
  • She outfoxed her competitors
Meaning (20):
- make a rhythmic sound
Example in sentence:
  • Rain drummed against the windshield;
  • The drums beat all night
Meaning (21):
- be superior
Example in sentence:
  • Reading beats watching television;
  • This sure beats work!
Meaning (22):
- move with a thrashing motion
Example in sentence:
  • The bird flapped its wings;
  • The eagle beat its wings and soared high into the sky
Meaning (23):
- move with a flapping motion
Example in sentence:
  • The bird's wings were flapping
Meaning (24):
- sail with much tacking or with difficulty
Example in sentence:
  • The boat beat in the strong wind
Meaning (25):
- move with or as if with a regular alternating motion
Example in sentence:
  • the city pulsated with music and excitement
Meaning (26):
- make a sound like a clock or a timer
Example in sentence:
  • the clocks were ticking;
  • the grandfather clock beat midnight
Meaning (27):
- glare or strike with great intensity
Example in sentence:
  • The sun was beating down on us
Meaning (28):
- give a beating to; subject to a beating, either as a punishment or as an act of aggression
Example in sentence:
  • The teacher used to beat the students;
  • Thugs beat him up when he walked down the street late at night
29 . beat [ s]
Meaning (29):
- very tired
Example in sentence:
  • bushed after all that exercise;
  • I'm dead after that long trip;
  • so beat I could flop down and go to sleep anywhere;
  • was all in at the end of the day

Nearby Words:

beach beach comber beached beaches beaching beachy beacon beaconage beaconed beaconing

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