Beat | Mean of beat in English Dictionary
/ˈbiːt/
- Verb
- to hit (something) repeatedly
- He beat the door with his fists. = He beat his fists against/on the door.
- He beat the dusty rug with a stick. = He beat a stick against the dusty rug.
- He beat the dust out of the rug with a stick.
- She used a hammer to beat the metal into shape.
- She used a hammer to beat the nail into the wall.
- The dented metal was beaten flat.
- The waves were beating the shore.
- He beat at/against/on the door with his fists.
- The waves were beating on/against the shore.
- The rain beat on the roof.
- to hit (someone) repeatedly in order to cause pain or injury
- They beat him with clubs.
- He was beaten badly/savagely/brutally.
- a man accused of beating his wife
- They beat him to the ground. [=they hit him repeatedly and he fell to the ground]
- They threatened to beat the (living) daylights out of him. [=to beat him very badly]
- He was beaten to death.
- to hit (a drum) repeatedly in order to produce music or a signal
- The drummer kept beating his drum.
- the sound of a beaten drum
- They beat (out) a message on their drums.
- The drum kept beating (out) its rhythm.
- The drummer kept beating.
- The drum kept beating.
- the sound of a beating drum
- to stir or mix (something) in a forceful way
- She used a whisk to beat the eggs.
- The recipe says you should beat the eggs lightly/thoroughly/well.
- Slowly beat the sugar into the batter. = Slowly beat in the sugar. = Slowly beat the sugar in.
- Separate out the egg whites and beat until stiff.
- to move (wings) with an up and down motion
- The bird was beating [=flapping] its wings.
- the sound of beating wings
- to make the regular movements needed to pump blood
- My heart was beating wildly/frantically with excitement and my pulse was racing!
- (humorous) We get free doughnuts? Be still, my beating heart!
- to defeat (someone) in a game, contest, etc.
- He gets very angry when I beat him at chess.
- We beat them 14 to 3.
- Our team was badly beaten in the championship game.
- She was narrowly beaten in the previous election, but she won this time.
- We beat them soundly/convincingly/comfortably/easily/badly. = (US) We beat the pants off them.
- They tried to lure away our customers by offering deep discounts, but we beat them at their own game. [=we offered even deeper discounts than they did]
- to do better than (something)
- She managed to beat the old record by several seconds.
- We can still beat the deadline if we work quickly.
- His wonderful performance will be hard/tough to beat. = His wonderful performance will take some beating. [=it will be difficult for anyone to do better than his wonderful performance]
- Most new restaurants fail, but this one somehow managed to beat the odds. [=this one succeeded even though it did not have a good chance of succeeding]
- Can you beat that?! A person like him being elected mayor! [=it is surprising or ridiculous to think that a person like him has been elected mayor]
- to be better than (something)
- For sheer luxury you can't beat a nice hot bath. = For sheer luxury, nothing beats a nice hot bath. = For sheer luxury, a nice hot bath beats anything.
- to control or overcome (something)
- By working together we can beat crime!
- (US) His favorite way of beating the heat [=remaining cool in hot weather] is to have a couple of cold beers.
- to be too difficult for (someone)
- This problem has beaten everyone. [=no one has been able to solve this problem]
- “How did she manage to fix the problem so quickly?” “Beats me.”
- I don't believe anything he tells me. It beats me how people can continue to trust him.
- to come, arrive, or act before (someone or something)
- I beat him narrowly to the finish line. [=I reached the finish line slightly before he did]
- I bet I can beat you to the front door!
- I wondered which of us would finish our work first, but she beat me to it by two days. [=she finished two days before I did]
- to avoid having problems with (something) by acting earlier
- We left early so that we could beat the traffic.
- We got to the store when it opened and managed to beat the rush.
- to make a path by walking over the ground many times
- They beat a path through the woods to the stream.
- If you work hard and well, success will beat a path to your door. [=you will be very successful]
- to leave quickly
- A group of teenagers was causing trouble, but they beat a hasty retreat when the cops arrived.
- to force (someone) to go back or to retreat by fighting
- Our troops were beaten back by enemy forces.
- to shine down with great heat and strength
- The blazing sun was beating down on us mercilessly/relentlessly.
- to hit (something, such as a door) so that it falls down
- The police had to beat down the door to get into the house.
- The storm beat down the crops.
- Years of failure had beaten him down. [=had caused him to lose hope or spirit]
- to cause (someone) to lower a price
- I beat her down from £30 to £15.
- to cause someone to lower (a price)
- I beat her asking price down from £30 to £15.
- to go away quickly
- The teenagers beat it when the cops arrived.
- Stop bothering me. Beat it! [=get lost]
- to force (someone or something) to go away by fighting
- She managed to beat off her attacker.
- The company has managed to beat off [=fight off] its competitors and maintain control of the market.
- to put out (a fire) by beating
- The fire was raging but we managed to beat it out.
- to turn (a ground ball) into a base hit by running fast to first base
- He beat out a bunt.
- to defeat or overcome (a person, team, etc.)
- They were beaten out [=beaten] in the semifinals.
- She thought she would get the job, but someone else beat her out. [=someone else got the job]
- to hurt or injure (someone) by hitting
- A gang of bullies threatened to beat him up.
- He was beaten up badly by the bullies.
- a politician who is getting beat/beaten up by liberal/conservative critics
- He's been beating himself up [=he has been harshly blaming or criticizing himself] because of the failure of his marriage.
- Noun
- the act of beating
- a single beat on a drum
- a beat of the bird's wings
- a single beat of his heart [=a single heartbeat]
- a sound produced by beating
- We could hear the steady beat of the waves against the shore.
- They danced to the beat of the drums.
- listening to the beat of his heart
- a loud or strong sound that occurs regularly in music or poetry
- music that has four beats to a bar
- the regular pattern of sounds in music or poetry
- She likes music with a Latin beat.
- a pounding beat
- The music had a steady beat.
- a place or area that someone (such as a policeman) regularly goes to, walks through, or covers as part of a job
- The policeman was patrolling/pounding his/the beat. = The policeman was on his/the beat.
- a reporter's beat
- to have difficulty in continuing
- He answered their questions without missing a beat. [=he answered all their questions very easily and without hesitating]
- He answered all their questions and never missed a beat.
- He didn't miss a beat.
- very tired
- Let me sit down. I'm absolutely beat!