Word
beat
US/ˈbit/
UK/bˈiːt/
Forms
Infinitive
beat
Past
beat
Past participle
beaten
Definitions
01to defeat
v. to win against someone in a game, fight, or competition.
v. to overcome an opponent in a contest, battle, or competitive endeavour.
“Our team played well and managed to beat the champions by two goals.”
“Despite their opponent's superior ranking, the underdog managed to beat the defending champions in a grueling five-set match.”
02to hit repeatedly
v. to hit something or someone many times, often very hard.
v. to strike a person or object repeatedly with force, often using a hand or an implement.
“He was so angry that he started to beat the desk with his fist.”
“The rain continued to beat against the windowpane throughout the night, making it impossible for the guests to sleep.”
03to mix food
v. to mix food quickly with a fork or tool to make it smooth.
v. to stir or mix ingredients with a vigorous, rapid motion to incorporate air or achieve a smooth consistency.
“You need to beat the eggs and sugar together until they are light and fluffy.”
“The recipe instructs the baker to beat the butter and sugar until the mixture reaches a pale, aerated texture before adding the dry ingredients.”
04pulsation
v. to move with a regular rhythm, like your heart.
v. to pulsate or throb with a regular, rhythmic frequency.
“She could feel her heart beat faster as she walked onto the stage.”
“The patient's heart began to beat erratically, prompting the medical team to monitor the electrocardiogram more closely.”
Synonyms
05musical rhythm
n. the main rhythm or steady sound in a piece of music.
n. the basic unit of time in a musical composition; the pulse that listeners typically tap their feet to.
“The song has a great beat that makes everyone want to dance.”
“The drummer maintained a steady beat, providing a rhythmic foundation that allowed the soloists to improvise freely.”
06area of duty
n. the specific area that a police officer or worker is responsible for.
n. a specific route or area assigned to a police officer or guard for regular patrolling.
“The officer has been patrolling this beat for over ten years.”
“The local constable was intimately familiar with every alleyway and storefront on his beat, having patrolled the neighbourhood for two decades.”
07exhausted
adj. feeling very tired or worn out.
adj. completely exhausted or physically spent.
“I'm totally beat after working a twelve-hour shift at the hospital.”
“After hiking twenty miles through the rugged mountain terrain, the entire group felt completely beat and collapsed into their tents.”
Informal · American English
08makeup look
adj. having very impressive or perfectly applied makeup.
adj. referring to a face that has been expertly made up, often with heavy or dramatic products.
“Her makeup was absolutely beat for the wedding photos.”
“The drag queen spent three hours in the dressing room ensuring her face was perfectly beat before the curtain rose.”
Slang
Usage
Often used in the phrase 'face is beat'.
Teaching tip
This sense originated in drag culture and AAVE; it is now common in social media beauty communities.
Confusables
Win takes the activity or prize as its direct object, whereas beat takes the opponent as its direct object.
RememberWin the game; beat the player.
Real-World Examples
“However, Eduan - who beat Hunt to win her first British title in June - finished sixth.” “When turning on the oven is a no-no and you're bored of salads, these foods (and drinks) will help to beat the heat.” “Will you beat our mega football nicknames quiz?” Etymology
From Middle English beten, from Old English bēatan (“to beat, pound, strike, lash, dash, thrust, hurt, injure”), from Proto-West Germanic bautan, from Proto-Germanic bautaną (“to push, strike”). Cognates Cognate with Dutch boten, botten, butten (“to push, strike”), German boßen (“to thrash”), Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍄𐌰𐌽 (bautan, “to beat, strike”) (whence, probably, Galician and Portuguese botar (“to expel; to throw”)); also Latin fūstis (“club, cudgel, knobbed stick, staff”), *fūtō (“to strike”), Albanian bahe, hobe (“sling”), Armenian բութ (butʻ), բույթ (buytʻ, “thumb”).
From Middle English bet (simple past of beten "to beat"), from Old English bēot (simple past of bēatan "to beat"). Middle English bet would regularly yield *beet; the modern form is influenced by the present stem and the past participle beaten, perhaps by analogy with the Early Modern English paradigm eat:eat (“ate”):eaten. Pronunciations with /ɛ/ (from Middle English bette, alternative simple past of beten) are possibly analogous to read (/ɹɛd/), led, met, etc.
From beatnik, or beat generation.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Collocations
Word family
Idioms
beat a dead horse — To persist or continue far beyond any purpose, interest or reason.
beat a retreat — To leave hastily in the face of opposition.
beat around the bush — To treat a topic, but omit its main points, often intentionally.
beat as one — To share the same feelings.
beat Banaghan — To tell wonderful stories, or something which is amazing and remarkable.
beat feet — To run.
beat it — To leave; to go away.
beat off — To masturbate by stimulating one's own penis.
beat off with a stick — To reject (a person making an unwanted amorous approach).
beat one's brain — To struggle to think or remember something.
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beat one's swords into ploughshares — To refrain from destructive military or paramilitary acts (war, terrorism, etc.) and put energy and resources to peaceful ends that would otherwise go to violence.
beat someone round the ears — To beat (a person) with blows about the head.
beat someone's arse — Alternative form of beat someone's ass.
beat someone's ass — To thrash someone.
beat someone's brains out — To beat someone very severely (especially in the head).
beat the bishop — To masturbate.
beat the bushes — Synonym of pound the pavement (“to campaign diligently; to seek something”).
beat the clock — To perform a task or successfully complete an activity within a time limit.
beat the cock — To masturbate.
beat the crowd — To arrive at a location or complete a task before a large group of people do so.
beat the daylights out of — To beat (someone) severely.
beat the drum for — To give voice to one's support of; to promote or publicize.
beat the dust — To perform curvets too precipitately or too low.
beat the odds — To succeed despite being unlikely to do so.
beat the pants off — To thoroughly and decisively defeat someone, either in a physical fight or, figuratively, in a competition.
beat the poop out of — To beat (someone) severely.
beat the shit out of — To beat (someone) severely.
beat the stuffing out of — To beat very severely.
beat to the punch — To carry out an action before another person is able to do so.
beat with the ugly stick — Used to describe someone who is particularly ugly or unattractive.
march to the beat of a different drum — To do things in one's own way regardless of societal norms and conventional expectations.
pound a beat — Of a police officer, to walk a regular route.
skip a beat — To momentarily falter.
to beat the band — In such a way as to surpass all competition; hence, contextually, very vigorously, at a frantic pace, to a high degree.
walk the beat — To patrol on the job, especially as a police officer or guard.