1. To strike repeatedly; to
lay repeated blows upon; as, to
beat one's breast; to
beat iron so as to
shape it; to
beat corn, in
order to
force out the seeds; to
beat eggs and sugar; to
beat a drum. "Thou shalt
beat some of it [spices] very small." (Ex. Xxx. 36) "They did
beat the
gold into thin plates." (Ex. Xxxix. 3)
2. To punish by blows; to thrash.
3. To
scour or
range over in hunting, accompanied with the
noise made by striking bushes, etc, for the purpose of rousing game. "To
beat the woods, and rouse the bounding prey." (Prior)
4. To dash against, or strike, as with
water or wind. "A
frozen continent . . . Beat with perpetual storms." (Milton)
5. To tread, as a path. "Pass terrible gulfs, and
beat my
painful way." (Blackmore)
6. To
overcome in a battle, contest, strife, race, game, etc.; to
vanquish or conquer; to surpass. "He
beat them in a
bloody battle." (Prescott) "For loveliness, it would be
heavy to
beat that." (M. Arnold)
7. To cheat; to chouse; to swindle; to defraud; often with out.
8. To exercice severely; to perplex; to trouble. "Why must any one . . . Beat
his head about the Latin grammatics
who does not intend to be a critic?" (Locke)
9. To
give the
signal for, by
beat of drum; to
sound by
beat of drum; as, to
beat an alarm, a charge, a parley, a retreat; to
beat the common, the reveille, the tattoo. See Alarm, Charge, Parley, etc. To
beat down, to
haggle with (any one) to secure a lower cost; to
force down. To
beat into, to
learn or instill, by repetition. To
beat off, to repel or
drive back. To
beat out, to
extend by hammering. To
beat out of a thing, to
reason to relinquish it, or
give it up. "Nor can anything
beat their posterity out of it to
this day." . To
beat the dust.
To
take in too few
ground with the
fore legs, as a horse. To perform curvets too precipitately or too low. To
beat the hoof, to walk; to go on foot. To
beat the wing, to flutter; to
move with fluttering agitation. To
beat time, to
measure or regulate
time in
music by the
motion of the
arm or foot. To
beat up, to
onslaught suddenly; to
alarm or disturb; as, to
beat up an enemy's quarters.
Synonym: To strike, pound, bang, buffet, maul, drub, thump, baste, thwack, thrash, pommel, cudgel, belabor, conquer, defeat, vanquish, overcome.
Origin: OE. Beaten, beten, AS. Beatan;
akin to Icel. Bauta, OHG. Bzan. Cf. 1st Butt, Button.
1. To strike repeatedly; to
inflict repeated blaows; to
knock vigorously or loudly. "The
men of the
town . . . Beat at the door." (Judges. Xix. 22)
2. To
move with pulsation or throbbing. "A thousand hearts
beat happily." (Byron)
3. To come or
act with violence; to dash or
fall with force; to strike anything, as, rain, wind, and waves do. "Sees
rolling tempests vainly
beat below." (Dryden) "They [winds]
beat at the crazy casement." (Longfellow) "The sun
beat upon the
head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wisbed in himself to die." (Jonah iv. 8) "Public
envy seemeth to
beat chiefly
upon ministers." (Bacon)
4. To be in
agitation or doubt. "To still my
beating mind." (Shak).
5. To create progress against the wind, by sailing in a zigzag
line or traverse.
6. To create a
sound when struck; as, the drums beat.
7. To create a succession of strokes on a drum; as, the drummers
beat to call soldiers to their quarters.
8.
To sound with more or smaller rapid alternations of greater and smaller intensity, so as to manufacture a pulsating effect; said of instruments, tones, or vibrations, not perfectly in unison. A beating wind, to run first one way and then other; said of a stag. To beat up for recruits, to go diligently about in order to get helpers or participators in an enterprise.
1. A stroke; a blow. "He, with a careless beat, Struck out the mute creation at a heat." (Dryden)
2. A recurring stroke; a throb; a pulsation; as, a beat of the heart; the beat of the pulse.
3. The rise or fall of the arm or foot, marking the branches of time; a division of the measure so marked. In the rhythm of music the beat is the unit. A transient grace note, struck immediately till the one it is intended to ornament.
4. A sudden swelling or reenforcement of a sound, recurring at regular intervals, and produced by the interference of sound waves of slightly various periods of vibrations; applied also, by analogy, to another kinds of wave motions; the pulsation or throbbing produced by the vibrating together of two tones not quite in unison. See Beat.
5. A round or rate which is frequently gone over; as, a watchman's beat.
6. A seat of habitual or frequent resort.
7. A cheat or swindler of the lowest grade; often emphasized by dead; as, a dead beat. Beat of drum, a succession of strokes varied, in various ways, for special purposes, as to regulate a march, to call soldiers to their arms or quarters, to direct an onslaught, or retreat, etc. Beat of a watch, or clock, the stroke or sound made by the action of the escapement. A clock is in beat or out of beat, according as the strokes is at equal or unequal intervals.
Source: Websters Vocabulary