beat
beet
- n a regular route for a sentry or policeman
in the old days a policeman walked a beat and knew all his people by name - n the rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart
he could feel the beat of her heart - n the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music
the conductor set the beat - n 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
- n a member of the beat generation; a nonconformist in dress and behavior
- n the sound of stroke or blow
he heard the beat of a drum - n (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse
- n a regular rate of repetition
the cox raised the beat - n a stroke or blow
the signal was two beats on the steam pipe - n the act of beating to windward; sailing as close as possible to the direction from which the wind is blowing
- v come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship
We beat the competition - v 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 - v hit repeatedly
beat on the door
beat the table with his shoe - v move rhythmically
Her heart was beating fast - v shape by beating
beat swords into ploughshares - v make a rhythmic sound
The drums beat all night - v glare or strike with great intensity
The sun was beating down on us - v move with a thrashing motion
The eagle beat its wings and soared high into the sky - v sail with much tacking or with difficulty
The boat beat in the strong wind - v stir vigorously
beat the egg whites
beat the cream - v 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 - v be superior
Reading beats watching television
This sure beats work! - v avoid paying
beat the subway fare - v make a sound like a clock or a timer
the grandfather clock beat midnight - v move with a flapping motion
- v indicate by beating, as with the fingers or drumsticks
- v move with or as if with a regular alternating motion
- v make by pounding or trampling
beat a path through the forest - v produce a rhythm by striking repeatedly
beat the drum - v strike (water or bushes) repeatedly to rouse animals for hunting
- v beat through cleverness and wit
I beat the traffic - v be a mystery or bewildering to
This beats me! - v wear out completely
I'm beat - s very tired
so beat I could flop down and go to sleep anywhere
- If the public is so fed up with the war and the White House, why are Republicans like Giuliani and McCain still beating out the likes of Hillary and Obama in a head-to-head contest.
- In the smoke-filled cellar cafs and cold-water flats of San Francisco's waterfront and Manhattan's Greenwich Village, the word these days is "beat.
- Traditionally, in Democratic contests, hops trump grapes: Walter Mondale beat Gary Hart in 1984, Bill Clinton beat Paul Tsongas in 1992, Al Gore beat Bill Bradley in 2000, and John .