Beat Definition

bēt

beaten, beating, beats

verb

beaten, beating, beats

To strike repeatedly.

American Heritage

To hit or strike repeatedly; pound.

Webster's New World

To strike, hit, or dash repeatedly and, usually, hard.

Webster's New World

To subject to repeated beatings or physical abuse; batter.

American Heritage

To punish by striking repeatedly and hard; whip, flog, spank, etc.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

noun

beats

A stroke or blow, especially one that produces a sound or serves as a signal.

American Heritage

A beating, as of the heart.

Webster's New World

Any of a series of blows or strokes.

Webster's New World

A variation in the amplitude of a wave, especially that which results from the superpositioning of two or more waves of different frequencies. When sound waves are combined, the beat is heard as a pulsation in the sound.

American Heritage

Any of a series of movements or sounds; throb.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

adjective

Worn-out; fatigued.

American Heritage

Tired out; exhausted, physically or emotionally.

Webster's New World

Of or relating to the Beat Generation.

American Heritage

Of or belonging to a group of young persons, esp. of the 1950s, rebelling against conventional attitudes, dress, speech, etc., largely as an expression of social disillusionment.

Webster's New World

(US slang) Exhausted.

After the long day, she was feeling completely beat.

Wiktionary

Synonyms:

Synonyms:
oofless
close-haul
fringy
dead
bushed
all-in
palpitant
beaten
(colloq.) exhausted
weary
fatigued

Antonyms:

Antonyms:
rested

idiom

beat all

To be impressive or amazing. Often used in negative conditional constructions:
If that doesn't beat all!

American Heritage

beat a retreat

To make a hasty withdrawal.

American Heritage

beat around

To fail to confront a subject directly.

American Heritage

beat it

To leave hurriedly.

American Heritage

beat the bushes

To make an exhaustive search.

American Heritage

Other Word Forms of Beat

Noun

Singular:

beat

Plural:

beats

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Beat

beat all
beat a retreat
beat around
beat it
beat the bushes
beat the drum
beat up on
to beat the band
beat about
beat back
beat down
beat it!
beat off
beat one's meat
beat out
beat up (on)
on the beat
to beat the band

Origin of Beat

From Middle English beten, from Old English bēatan (“to beat, pound, strike, lash, dash, thrust, hurt, injure”), from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to push, strike”) (compare Low German boten, German boßen, Old Norse bauta), from Proto-Indo-European *bhau- (compare Old Irish fo·botha (“he threatened”), Latin confutō (“I strike down”), fūstis (“stick, club”), Albanian bahe (“sling”), Lithuanian baudžiù, Bulgarian бутам (butam, “I beat, knock”), Old Armenian բութ (butʿ)). Compare Occitan batre, French battre.

From Wiktionary
Middle English beten from Old English bēaten bhau- in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From beatnik

From Wiktionary