| English Dictionary |
BEAT (beaten)
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does beat mean?
• BEAT (noun)
The noun BEAT has 10 senses:
1. a regular route for a sentry or policeman
2. the rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart
3. the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music
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
7. (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse
8. a regular rate of repetition
9. a stroke or blow
10. the act of beating to windward; sailing as close as possible to the direction from which the wind is blowing
Familiarity information: BEAT used as a noun is familiar.
• BEAT (adjective)
The adjective BEAT has 1 sense:
1. very tired
Familiarity information: BEAT used as an adjective is very rare.
• BEAT (verb)
The verb BEAT has 23 senses:
1. come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
2. give a beating to; subject to a beating, either as a punishment or as an act of aggression
3. hit repeatedly
4. move rhythmically
5. shape by beating
6. make a rhythmic sound
7. glare or strike with great intensity
8. move with a thrashing motion
9. sail with much tacking or with difficulty
10. stir vigorously
11. strike (a part of one's own body) repeatedly, as in great emotion or in accompaniment to music
12. be superior
13. avoid paying
14. make a sound like a clock or a timer
15. move with a flapping motion
16. indicate by beating, as with the fingers or drumsticks
17. move with or as if with a regular alternating motion
18. make by pounding or trampling
19. produce a rhythm by striking repeatedly
20. strike (water or bushes) repeatedly to rouse animals for hunting
21. beat through cleverness and wit
22. be a mystery or bewildering to
23. wear out completely
Familiarity information: BEAT used as a verb is very familiar.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
A regular route for a sentry or policeman
Classified under:
Nouns denoting spatial position
Synonyms:
beat; round
Context example:
in the old days a policeman walked a beat and knew all his people by name
Hypernyms ("beat" is a kind of...):
itinerary; path; route (an established line of travel or access)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural events
Synonyms:
beat; heartbeat; pulsation; pulse
Context example:
he could feel the beat of her heart
Hypernyms ("beat" is a kind of...):
periodic event; recurrent event (an event that recurs at intervals)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "beat"):
diastole (the widening of the chambers of the heart between two contractions when the chambers fill with blood)
systole (the contraction of the chambers of the heart (especially the ventricles) to drive blood into the aorta and pulmonary artery)
pounding; throb; throbbing (an instance of rapid strong pulsation (of the heart))
Derivation:
beat (move rhythmically)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Synonyms:
beat; musical rhythm; rhythm
Context example:
the conductor set the beat
Hypernyms ("beat" is a kind of...):
musical time ((music) the beat of musical rhythm)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "beat"):
downbeat (the first beat of a musical measure (as the conductor's arm moves downward))
offbeat; upbeat (an unaccented beat (especially the last beat of a measure))
syncopation (a musical rhythm accenting a normally weak beat)
backbeat (a loud steady beat)
Derivation:
beat (strike (a part of one's own body) repeatedly, as in great emotion or in accompaniment to music)
beat (produce a rhythm by striking repeatedly)
beat (move rhythmically)
beat (indicate by beating, as with the fingers or drumsticks)
beat (make a rhythmic sound)
Sense 4
Meaning:
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
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural phenomena
Hypernyms ("beat" is a kind of...):
oscillation; vibration ((physics) a regular periodic variation in value about a mean)
Sense 5
Meaning:
A member of the beat generation; a nonconformist in dress and behavior
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Synonyms:
beat; beatnik
Hypernyms ("beat" is a kind of...):
nonconformist; recusant (someone who refuses to conform to established standards of conduct)
Holonyms ("beat" is a member of...):
beat generation; beatniks; beats (a United States youth subculture of the 1950s; rejected possessions or regular work or traditional dress; for communal living and psychedelic drugs and anarchism; favored modern forms of jazz (e.g., bebop))
Sense 6
Meaning:
The sound of stroke or blow
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural events
Context example:
he heard the beat of a drum
Hypernyms ("beat" is a kind of...):
sound (the sudden occurrence of an audible event)
Derivation:
beat (hit repeatedly)
beat (make a sound like a clock or a timer)
Sense 7
Meaning:
(prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Synonyms:
beat; cadence; measure; meter; metre
Hypernyms ("beat" is a kind of...):
poetic rhythm; prosody; rhythmic pattern ((prosody) a system of versification)
Domain category:
metrics; prosody (the study of poetic meter and the art of versification)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "beat"):
catalexis (the absence of a syllable in the last foot of a line or verse)
scansion (analysis of verse into metrical patterns)
common measure; common meter (the usual (iambic) meter of a ballad)
foot; metrical foot; metrical unit ((prosody) a group of 2 or 3 syllables forming the basic unit of poetic rhythm)
Sense 8
Meaning:
A regular rate of repetition
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Context example:
the cox raised the beat
Hypernyms ("beat" is a kind of...):
pace; rate (the relative speed of progress or change)
Derivation:
beat (move with a thrashing motion)
Sense 9
Meaning:
A stroke or blow
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Context example:
the signal was two beats on the steam pipe
Hypernyms ("beat" is a kind of...):
stroke (a single complete movement)
Derivation:
beat (hit repeatedly)
beat (shape by beating)
Sense 10
Meaning:
The act of beating to windward; sailing as close as possible to the direction from which the wind is blowing
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("beat" is a kind of...):
sailing (riding in a sailboat)
Derivation:
beat (sail with much tacking or with difficulty)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Very tired
Synonyms:
Context example:
I'm dead after that long trip
Similar:
tired (depleted of strength or energy)
Domain usage:
colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)
| Conjugation: |
... he / she / it beats Past simple: beat
Past participle: beaten
-ing form: beating
Sense 1
Meaning:
Come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
Classified under:
Verbs of fighting, athletic activities
Synonyms:
beat; beat out; crush; shell; trounce; vanquish
Context example:
Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
defeat; get the better of; overcome (win a victory over)
"Beat" entails doing...:
win (be the winner in a contest or competition; be victorious)
Verb group:
beat; circumvent; outfox; outsmart; outwit; overreach (beat through cleverness and wit)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "beat"):
outplay (excel or defeat in a game)
bat; clobber; cream; drub; lick; thrash (beat thoroughly and conclusively in a competition or fight)
immobilise; immobilize (make defenseless)
checkmate; mate (place an opponent's king under an attack from which it cannot escape and thus ending the game)
overmaster; overpower; overwhelm (overcome by superior force)
outfight (to fight better than; get the better of)
best; outdo; outflank; scoop; trump (get the better of)
get over; master; overcome; subdue; surmount (get on top of; deal with successfully)
exceed; outdo; outgo; outmatch; outperform; outstrip; surmount; surpass (be or do something to a greater degree)
get the jump (be there first)
rout; spread-eagle; spreadeagle (defeat disastrously)
get the best; have the best; overcome (overcome, usually through no fault or weakness of the person that is overcome)
whomp (beat overwhelmingly)
mop up; pip; rack up; whip; worst (defeat thoroughly)
eliminate (remove from a contest or race)
walk over (beat easily)
outpoint; outscore (score more points than one's opponents)
cheat; chicane; chouse; jockey; screw; shaft (defeat someone through trickery or deceit)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Sentence example:
The fighter managed to beat his opponent
Derivation:
beatable (susceptible to being defeated)
beating (the act of overcoming or outdoing)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Give a beating to; subject to a beating, either as a punishment or as an act of aggression
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Synonyms:
Context example:
The teacher used to beat the students
"Beat" entails doing...:
hit (deal a blow to, either with the hand or with an instrument)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "beat"):
belabor; belabour (beat soundly)
larrup; paddle; spank (give a spanking to; subject to a spanking)
baste; batter; clobber (strike violently and repeatedly)
flail; lam; thrash; thresh (give a thrashing to; beat hard)
kayo; knock cold; knock out (knock unconscious or senseless)
cane; flog; lambast; lambaste (beat with a cane)
flog; lash; lather; slash; strap; trounce; welt; whip (beat severely with a whip or rod)
rough up (treat violently)
pistol-whip (beat with a pistol)
soak (beat severely)
strong-arm (use physical force against)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody
Sentence example:
They want to beat the prisoners
Derivation:
beating (the act of inflicting corporal punishment with repeated blows)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Hit repeatedly
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Context example:
beat the table with his shoe
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
strike (deliver a sharp blow, as with the hand, fist, or weapon)
Verb group:
beat (strike (a part of one's own body) repeatedly, as in great emotion or in accompaniment to music)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "beat"):
beat (strike (water or bushes) repeatedly to rouse animals for hunting)
hammer (beat with or as if with a hammer)
thrash; thresh (beat the seeds out of a grain)
paste (hit with the fists)
whang (beat with force)
bastinado (beat somebody on the soles of the feet)
beetle (beat with a beetle)
full (beat for the purpose of cleaning and thickening)
coldcock; deck; dump; floor; knock down (knock down with force)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Derivation:
beat (a stroke or blow)
beat (the sound of stroke or blow)
beater (an implement for beating)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Move rhythmically
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Synonyms:
Context example:
Her heart was beating fast
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)
Verb group:
beat (indicate by beating, as with the fingers or drumsticks)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "beat"):
flutter; palpitate (beat rapidly)
flap (move noisily)
thrash (beat so fast that (the heart's) output starts dropping until (it) does not manage to pump out blood at all)
pulsate; pulse; throb (expand and contract rhythmically; beat rhythmically)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Derivation:
beat (the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music)
beat (the rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Shape by beating
Classified under:
Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing
Context example:
beat swords into ploughshares
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
forge; form; mold; mould; shape; work (make something, usually for a specific function)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "beat"):
forge; hammer (create by hammering)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sentence example:
The chef wants to beat the eggs
Derivation:
beat (a stroke or blow)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Make a rhythmic sound
Classified under:
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling
Synonyms:
Context example:
The drums beat all night
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)
Verb group:
beat (indicate by beating, as with the fingers or drumsticks)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Derivation:
beat (the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Glare or strike with great intensity
Classified under:
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling
Context example:
The sun was beating down on us
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
glare (shine intensely)
Sentence frame:
Something is ----ing PP
Sense 8
Meaning:
Move with a thrashing motion
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Synonyms:
beat; flap
Context example:
The eagle beat its wings and soared high into the sky
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)
Verb group:
beat; flap (move with a flapping motion)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "beat"):
flutter (flap the wings rapidly or fly with flapping movements)
bate (flap the wings wildly or frantically; used of falcons)
clap (cause to strike the air in flight)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s something
Derivation:
beat (a regular rate of repetition)
Sense 9
Meaning:
Sail with much tacking or with difficulty
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Context example:
The boat beat in the strong wind
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
sail (travel on water propelled by wind)
Domain category:
navigation; pilotage; piloting (the guidance of ships or airplanes from place to place)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP
Derivation:
beat (the act of beating to windward; sailing as close as possible to the direction from which the wind is blowing)
Sense 10
Meaning:
Stir vigorously
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Synonyms:
beat; scramble
Context example:
beat the cream
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
agitate; commove; disturb; raise up; shake up; stir up; vex (change the arrangement or position of)
Domain category:
cookery; cooking; preparation (the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "beat"):
whip; whisk (whip with or as if with a wire whisk)
cream (make creamy by beating)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Derivation:
beater (an implement for beating)
Sense 11
Meaning:
Strike (a part of one's own body) repeatedly, as in great emotion or in accompaniment to music
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Context example:
beat one's foot rhythmically
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
strike (deliver a sharp blow, as with the hand, fist, or weapon)
Verb group:
beat (hit repeatedly)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
beat (the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music)
Sense 12
Meaning:
Be superior
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Context example:
This sure beats work!
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))
Sentence frame:
Something ----s something
Sense 13
Meaning:
Avoid paying
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Synonyms:
beat; bunk
Context example:
beat the subway fare
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
cheat; chisel; rip off (deprive somebody of something by deceit)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 14
Meaning:
Make a sound like a clock or a timer
Classified under:
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling
Synonyms:
beat; tick; ticktack; ticktock
Context example:
the grandfather clock beat midnight
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
Derivation:
beat (the sound of stroke or blow)
Sense 15
Meaning:
Move with a flapping motion
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Synonyms:
beat; flap
Context example:
The bird's wings were flapping
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)
Verb group:
beat; flap (move with a thrashing motion)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "beat"):
flail; thresh (move like a flail; thresh about)
clap (strike the air in flight)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
Sense 16
Meaning:
Indicate by beating, as with the fingers or drumsticks
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Context example:
Beat the rhythm
Verb group:
beat (produce a rhythm by striking repeatedly)
beat; pound; thump (move rhythmically)
beat; drum; thrum (make a rhythmic sound)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "beat"):
beat out; tap out; thump out (beat out a rhythm)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP
Derivation:
beat (the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music)
Sense 17
Meaning:
Move with or as if with a regular alternating motion
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Synonyms:
Context example:
the city pulsated with music and excitement
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)
Verb group:
pulsate; pulse; throb (expand and contract rhythmically; beat rhythmically)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
Sense 18
Meaning:
Make by pounding or trampling
Classified under:
Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing
Context example:
beat a path through the forest
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
create; make (make or cause to be or to become)
"Beat" entails doing...:
trample; tread (tread or stomp heavily or roughly)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 19
Meaning:
Produce a rhythm by striking repeatedly
Classified under:
Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing
Context example:
beat the drum
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
play (perform music on (a musical instrument))
Verb group:
beat (indicate by beating, as with the fingers or drumsticks)
Domain category:
music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
beat (the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music)
Sense 20
Meaning:
Strike (water or bushes) repeatedly to rouse animals for hunting
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
beat (hit repeatedly)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 21
Meaning:
Beat through cleverness and wit
Classified under:
Verbs of fighting, athletic activities
Synonyms:
beat; circumvent; outfox; outsmart; outwit; overreach
Context example:
She outfoxed her competitors
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
exceed; outdo; outgo; outmatch; outperform; outstrip; surmount; surpass (be or do something to a greater degree)
Verb group:
beat; beat out; crush; shell; trounce; vanquish (come out better in a competition, race, or conflict)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Derivation:
beatable (susceptible to being defeated)
Sense 22
Meaning:
Be a mystery or bewildering to
Classified under:
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting
Synonyms:
amaze; baffle; beat; bewilder; dumbfound; flummox; get; gravel; mystify; nonplus; perplex; pose; puzzle; stick; stupefy; vex
Context example:
This question really stuck me
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
bedevil; befuddle; confound; confuse; discombobulate; fox; fuddle; throw (be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "beat"):
mix up; stump (cause to be perplexed or confounded)
riddle (set a difficult problem or riddle)
elude; escape (be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s somebody
Sense 23
Meaning:
Wear out completely
Classified under:
Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care
Synonyms:
beat; exhaust; tucker; tucker out; wash up
Context example:
He was all washed up after the exam
Hypernyms (to "beat" is one way to...):
fag; fag out; fatigue; jade; outwear; tire; tire out; wear; wear down; wear out; wear upon; weary (exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "beat"):
play (exhaust by allowing to pull on the line)
kill (tire out completely)
frazzle (exhaust physically or emotionally)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Context examples
I have been beaten four times—three times by men, and once by a woman.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
But this crew, he added, beats me.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
The wind roared round the house, and the rain beat against the windows; but Elinor, all happiness within, regarded it not.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
But first the Russians put out the eyes of Old Kinoos that he might never show the way again, and then they fought, where the waves beat white, with the people of Pastolik.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
“You don’t like being beaten any more than the rest of us do,” said he.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was a place fitted for such a work, being hardly more than a rock whose high sides were continually beaten upon by the waves.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
“He looks like a beaten man,” cried Phelps.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Louis tells me that the gossip of the sailors finds its way aft, and that two of the telltales have been badly beaten by their mates.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
“If this is bluff upon your part, Mr. Holmes, you have chosen a bad man for your experiment. Let us have no more beating about the bush. What do you mean?”
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I could almost hear the beating of my own heart; and the blood surging through my temples sounded like blows from a hammer.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
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