Beat - Definition

adj 1: very tired; "was all in at the end of the day"; "so beat
I could flop down and go to sleep anywhere"; "bushed
after all that exercise"; "I'm dead after that long trip"
[syn: all in(p), beat(p), bushed(p), dead(p)]
n 1: a regular route for a sentry or policeman; "in the old days
a policeman walked a beat and knew all his people by name"
[syn: beat, round]
2: the rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with
each beat of the heart; "he could feel the beat of her heart"
[syn: pulse, pulsation, heartbeat, beat]
3: the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music; "the piece has a
fast rhythm"; "the conductor set the beat" [syn: rhythm,
beat, musical rhythm]
4: 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
5: a member of the beat generation; a nonconformist in dress and
behavior [syn: beatnik, beat]
6: the sound of stroke or blow; "he heard the beat of a drum"
7: (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse [syn:
meter, metre, measure, beat, cadence]
8: a regular rate of repetition; "the cox raised the beat"
9: a stroke or blow; "the signal was two beats on the steam
pipe"
10: the act of beating to windward; sailing as close as possible
to the direction from which the wind is blowing
v 1: come out better in a competition, race, or conflict;
"Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship"; "We beat
the competition"; "Harvard defeated Yale in the last
football game" [syn: beat, beat out, crush, shell,
trounce, vanquish]
2: 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" [syn: beat, beat up, work
over]
3: hit repeatedly; "beat on the door"; "beat the table with his
shoe"
4: move rhythmically; "Her heart was beating fast" [syn: beat,
pound, thump]
5: shape by beating; "beat swords into ploughshares"
6: make a rhythmic sound; "Rain drummed against the windshield";
"The drums beat all night" [syn: drum, beat, thrum]
7: glare or strike with great intensity; "The sun was beating
down on us"
8: move with a thrashing motion; "The bird flapped its wings";
"The eagle beat its wings and soared high into the sky" [syn:
beat, flap]
9: sail with much tacking or with difficulty; "The boat beat in
the strong wind"
10: stir vigorously; "beat the egg whites"; "beat the cream"
[syn: beat, scramble]
11: 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"
12: be superior; "Reading beats watching television"; "This sure
beats work!"
13: avoid paying; "beat the subway fare" [syn: beat, bunk]
14: make a sound like a clock or a timer; "the clocks were
ticking"; "the grandfather clock beat midnight" [syn:
tick, ticktock, ticktack, beat]
15: move with a flapping motion; "The bird's wings were
flapping" [syn: beat, flap]
16: indicate by beating, as with the fingers or drumsticks;
"Beat the rhythm"
17: move with or as if with a regular alternating motion; "the
city pulsated with music and excitement" [syn: pulsate,
beat, quiver]
18: make by pounding or trampling; "beat a path through the
forest"
19: produce a rhythm by striking repeatedly; "beat the drum"
20: strike (water or bushes) repeatedly to rouse animals for
hunting
21: beat through cleverness and wit; "I beat the traffic"; "She
outfoxed her competitors" [syn: outwit, overreach,
outsmart, outfox, beat, circumvent]
22: be a mystery or bewildering to; "This beats me!"; "Got me--I
don't know the answer!"; "a vexing problem"; "This question
really stuck me" [syn: perplex, vex, stick, get,
puzzle, mystify, baffle, beat, pose, bewilder,
flummox, stupefy, nonplus, gravel, amaze,
dumbfound]
23: wear out completely; "This kind of work exhausts me"; "I'm
beat"; "He was all washed up after the exam" [syn:
exhaust, wash up, beat, tucker, tucker out]