beat meaning and definition

BEAT noun

Definition of beat (noun)

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"
   • synonyms: round
2. the rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart
   • "he could feel the beat of her heart"
   • synonyms: heartbeat, pulsation, pulse
3. the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music
   • "the piece has a fast rhythm"; "the conductor set the beat"
   • synonyms: musical rhythm, rhythm
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
   • synonyms: beatnik
6. the sound of stroke or blow
   • "he heard the beat of a drum"
7. (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse
   • synonyms: cadence, measure, meter, metre
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

BEAT verb

Definition of beat (verb)

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"
   • synonyms: beat out, crush, shell, trounce, vanquish
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"
   • synonyms: beat up, work over
3. hit repeatedly
   • "beat on the door"; "beat the table with his shoe"
4. move rhythmically
   • "Her heart was beating fast"
   • synonyms: pound, thump
5. shape by beating
   • "beat swords into ploughshares"
6. make a rhythmic sound
   • "Rain drummed against the windshield"; "The drums beat all night"
   • synonyms: drum, thrum
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"
   • synonyms: flap
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"
    • synonyms: scramble
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"
    • synonyms: bunk
14. make a sound like a clock or a timer
    • "the clocks were ticking"; "the grandfather clock beat midnight"
    • synonyms: tick, ticktack, ticktock
15. move with a flapping motion
    • "The bird's wings were flapping"
    • synonyms: flap
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"
    • synonyms: pulsate, quiver
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"
    • synonyms: circumvent, outfox, outsmart, outwit, overreach
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"
    • synonyms: amaze, baffle, bewilder, dumbfound, flummox, get, gravel, mystify, nonplus, perplex, pose, puzzle, stick, stupefy, vex
23. wear out completely
    • "This kind of work exhausts me"; "I'm beat"; "He was all washed up after the exam"
    • synonyms: exhaust, tucker, tucker out, wash up

BEAT adjective

Definition of beat (adjective)

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"
   • synonyms: all in, bushed, dead