beat

noun

A stroke; a blow.

A pulsation or throb.

(music) A pulse on the beat level, the metric level at which pulses are heard as the basic unit. Thus a beat is the basic time unit of a piece.

A rhythm.

(music) The rhythm signalled by a conductor or other musician to the members of a group of musicians.

The instrumental portion of a piece of hip-hop music.

The interference between two tones of almost equal frequency

(authorship) A short pause in a play, screenplay, or teleplay, for dramatic or comedic effect.

(by extension) An area of a person's responsibility, especially

The route patrolled by a police officer or a guard.

(journalism) The primary focus of a reporter's stories (such as police/courts, education, city government, business etc.).

(Australia) An area frequented by gay men in search of sexual activity. See gay beat.

(hunting) The act of scouring, or ranging over, a tract of land to rouse or drive out game; also, those so engaged, collectively.

(fencing) A smart tap on the adversary's blade.

(slang) A makeup look; compare beat one's face.

A beatnik.

(dated) An act of reporting news or scientific results before a rival; a scoop.

(colloquial, dated) That which beats, or surpasses, another or others.

(dated) A place of habitual or frequent resort.

(dated or obsolete, Southern US) A precinct.

(archaic) A low cheat or swindler.

verb

(transitive) To hit; to strike.

(transitive) To strike or pound repeatedly, usually in some sort of rhythm.

(intransitive) To strike repeatedly; to inflict repeated blows; to knock vigorously or loudly.

(intransitive) To move with pulsation or throbbing.

(transitive) To win against; to defeat or overcome; to do or be better than (someone); to excel in a particular, competitive event.

(intransitive, nautical) To sail to windward using a series of alternate tacks across the wind.

(transitive) To strike (water, foliage etc.) in order to drive out game; to travel through (a forest etc.) for hunting.

To mix food in a rapid fashion. Compare whip.

(transitive, UK, in haggling for a price of a buyer) To persuade the seller to reduce a price.

(transitive) To indicate by beating or drumming.

To tread, as a path.

To exercise severely; to perplex; to trouble.

To be in agitation or doubt.

To make a sound when struck.

(military, intransitive) To make a succession of strokes on a drum.

To sound with more or less rapid alternations of greater and lesser intensity, so as to produce a pulsating effect; said of instruments, tones, or vibrations not perfectly in unison.

(transitive) To arrive at a place before someone.

(intransitive, MLE, MTE, slang, vulgar) To have sexual intercourse.

(transitive, slang) To rob; to cheat or scam.

simple past tense of beat

adjective

(US slang) Exhausted.

(slang) Dilapidated, beat up.

(African-American Vernacular and gay slang) Having impressively attractive makeup.

(slang) Boring.

(slang, of a person) Ugly.

Relating to the Beat Generation.

Synonyms for beat

trouncev thumpn pulsatev beatenadj rhythmn vanquishv outfightv drumv drubv pummelv crushn knockv outpointv heartbeatn defeatn pulsen pulsationn

Synonyms & related words for beat

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of beat — including trounce, thump, pulsate, beaten, rhythm, vanquish. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to beat

Explore words related to beat — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include outwit, larruping, outfox, outplay, kurbash, trouncer, beatable, larrups. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for beat

Common synonyms for beat include trounce, thump, pulsate, beaten, rhythm, vanquish, outfight, drum — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.