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"2. the rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart;
"he could feel the beat of her heart"3. the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music;
"the piece has a fast rhythm""the conductor set the beat"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
6. the sound of stroke or blow;
"he heard the beat of a drum"7. (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse
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
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"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"3. hit repeatedly;
"beat on the door""beat the table with his shoe"4. move rhythmically;
"Her heart was beating fast"5. shape by beating;
"beat swords into ploughshares"6. make a rhythmic sound;
"Rain drummed against the windshield""The drums beat all night"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"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"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"14. make a sound like a clock or a timer;
"the clocks were ticking""the grandfather clock beat midnight"15. move with a flapping motion;
"The bird's wings were flapping"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"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"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"23. wear out completely;
"This kind of work exhausts me""I'm beat""He was all washed up after the exam"