n.

1. a regular route for a sentry or policeman;
   round
   
   • in the old days a policeman walked a beat and knew all his people by name
2. the rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart;
   pulse, pulsation, heartbeat
   
   • he could feel the beat of her heart
3. the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music;
   rhythm, musical rhythm
   
   • the piece has a fast rhythm
   • the conductor set the beat
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;
   beatnik
6. the sound of stroke or blow
   
   • he heard the beat of a drum
7. (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse;
   meter, metre, measure, 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;
   beat out, crush, shell, trounce, vanquish
   
   • Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship
   • We beat the competition
   • Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game
2. give a beating to; subject to a beating, either as a punishment or as an act of aggression;
   beat up, work over
   
   • Thugs beat him up when he walked down the street late at night
   • The teacher used to beat the students
3. hit repeatedly
   
   • beat on the door
   • beat the table with his shoe
4. move rhythmically;
   pound, thump
   
   • Her heart was beating fast
5. shape by beating
   
   • beat swords into ploughshares
6. make a rhythmic sound;
   drum, thrum
   
   • Rain drummed against the windshield
   • The drums beat all night
7. glare or strike with great intensity
   
   • The sun was beating down on us
8. move with a thrashing motion;
   flap
   
   • The bird flapped its wings
   • The eagle beat its wings and soared high into the sky
9. sail with much tacking or with difficulty
   
   • The boat beat in the strong wind
10. stir vigorously;
    scramble
    
    • beat the egg whites
    • beat the cream
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;
    bunk
    
    • beat the subway fare
14. make a sound like a clock or a timer;
    tick, ticktock, ticktack
    
    • the clocks were ticking
    • the grandfather clock beat midnight
15. move with a flapping motion;
    flap
    
    • The bird's wings were flapping
16. indicate by beating, as with the fingers or drumsticks
    
    • Beat the rhythm
17. move with or as if with a regular alternating motion;
    pulsate, quiver
    
    • the city pulsated with music and excitement
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;
    outwit, overreach, outsmart, outfox, circumvent
    
    • I beat the traffic
    • She outfoxed her competitors
22. be a mystery or bewildering to;
    perplex, vex, stick, get, puzzle, mystify, baffle, pose, bewilder, flummox, stupefy, nonplus, gravel, amaze, dumbfound
    
    • This beats me!
    • Got me--I don't know the answer!
    • a vexing problem
    • This question really stuck me
23. wear out completely;
    exhaust, wash up, tucker, tucker out
    
    • This kind of work exhausts me
    • I'm beat
    • He was all washed up after the exam

adj.

1. very tired;
   all in(p), beat(p), bushed(p), dead(p)
   
   • 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