beat

beat is one of the 1000 most common headwords.

bear - beat - beauty

Pronunciation

• enPR: bēt, IPA ^(key): /biːt/
• SAMPA: /bi:t/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophone: beet

Verb

Plain form beat

Third-person singular beats

Past tense beat

Past participle beaten

Present participle beating

1. (transitive) If you beat someone or something, you hit it, usually many times.
   • Synonyms: hit, assault and batter

   It made a loud noise when he beat the drum.

   I had to leave and divorce my husband, because he kept beating and choking me.

2. (transitive) If you beat a person or a team, you win and they lose.

   The best team usually beats the worst one.

3. The past tense of beat.

Related words

• beat up

Noun

Singular beat

Plural beats

1. (countable) Beat is the rhythm of music.
   • Synonym: rhythm
2. (countable) A heartbeat.
   • Synonym: pulse