beat

verb (past beat; past participle beaten /ˈbiːt(ə)n/)

• 1strike (a person or an animal) repeatedly and violently so as to hurt or injure them, typically with an implement such as a club or whip:aristocratic women were often beaten by their husbands the victims were beaten to death with baseball bats
• strike (an object) repeatedly so as to make a noise:he beat the table with his hand
• [no object] (of an instrument) make a rhythmical sound through being struck:drums were beating in the distance
• strike (a carpet, blanket, etc.) repeatedly in order to remove dust: upright cleaners have a motorized head which beats the carpet to loosen the dirt
• flatten or shape (metal) by striking it repeatedly with a hammer:pure gold can be beaten out to form very thin sheets
• (beat something against/on) strike something against (something):she beat her fists against the wood
• [no object] strike repeatedly at or on something:Sidney beat on the door with the flat of his hand Emmie began to beat at the flames
• move across (an area of land) repeatedly striking at the ground cover in order to raise game birds for shooting: they hire boys to beat the Yorkshire moors for game birds

• 2defeat (someone) in a game or other competitive situation:she beat him easily at chess Juventus were beaten 2-1
• overcome (a problem or disease):the battle to beat car crime he beat heroin addiction in 1992
• do or be better than (a record or score):he beat his own world record
• informal be better than:you can’t beat the taste of fresh raspberries
• informal baffle:it beats me how you manage to work in this heat

• 3succeed in getting somewhere ahead of (someone):the defender beat him to the ball
• take action to avoid (difficulty or inconvenience):they set off early to beat the traffic

• 4 [no object] (of the heart) pulsate:her heart beat faster with panic

• 5(of a bird) move (the wings) up and down: doves wheel around the rooftops, beating their wings
• [no object] (of a bird) fly making rhythmic wing movements:an owl beat low over the salt marsh

• 6stir (cooking ingredients) vigorously to make a smooth or frothy mixture: beat the butter until light and fluffy beat the cream into the mixture

• 7 (beat it) informal leave: [in imperative]:now beat it, will you!

• 8 [no object, with adverbial of direction] Sailing sail into the wind, following a zigzag course with repeated tacking:we beat southwards all that first day

noun

• 1a main accent or rhythmic unit in music or poetry:the glissando begins on the second beat
• a strong rhythm in popular music:the music changed to a funky disco beat
• [in singular] a regular, rhythmic sound or movement:the beat of the wipers became almost hypnotic
• the sound made when something, especially a musical instrument, is struck:he heard a regular drum beat
• a pulsation of the heart.
• a periodic variation of sound or amplitude due to the combination of two sounds, electrical signals, or other vibrations having similar but not identical frequencies.

• 2the movement of a bird’s wings: the beat of the swallow’s wings as they dive after midges

• 3an area allocated to a police officer and patrolled on foot:his beat was in North London public clamour for more policemen on the beat
• a spell of duty allocated to a police officer:his beat ended at 6 a.m.
• an area regularly frequented by someone: a few, new to their beat, looked at him with interest
• informal a person’s area of interest:his beat is construction, property, and hotels
• a stretch of water fished by an angler: you don’t necessarily have to fish on the priciest beats to find good sport

• 4a brief pause or moment of hesitation:she waited for a beat of three seconds

  [from the use of a stage direction referring to such a pause]

• 5 informalshort for beatnik.

adjective

• 1 [predic.] informal completely exhausted:I’m beat—I need an hour or so to rest

• 2 [attributive] relating to the beat generation or its philosophy:beat poet Allen Ginsberg