noun
A stroke; a blow.
A pulsation or throb.
(music) A pulse on the beat level, the metric level at which pulses are heard as the basic unit. Thus a beat is the basic time unit of a piece.
A rhythm.
The instrumental portion of a piece of hip-hop music.
The interference between two tones of almost equal frequency
(authorship) A short pause in a play, screenplay, or teleplay, for dramatic or comedic effect.
(by extension) An area of a person's responsibility, especially
(dated) An act of reporting news or scientific results before a rival; a scoop.
(colloquial, dated) That which beats, or surpasses, another or others.
(dated or obsolete, Southern US) A precinct.
(dated) A place of habitual or frequent resort.
(archaic) A low cheat or swindler.
(hunting) The act of scouring, or ranging over, a tract of land to rouse or drive out game; also, those so engaged, collectively.
(fencing) A smart tap on the adversary's blade.
(slang) A makeup look; compare beat one's face.
verb
(transitive) To hit; to strike.
(transitive) To strike or pound repeatedly, usually in some sort of rhythm.
(intransitive) To strike repeatedly; to inflict repeated blows; to knock vigorously or loudly.
(intransitive) To move with pulsation or throbbing.
(transitive) To win against; to defeat or overcome; to do or be better than (someone); to excel in a particular, competitive event.
(intransitive, nautical) To sail to windward using a series of alternate tacks across the wind.
(transitive) To strike (water, foliage etc.) in order to drive out game; to travel through (a forest etc.) for hunting.
To mix food in a rapid fashion. Compare whip.
(transitive, UK, in haggling for a price of a buyer) To persuade the seller to reduce a price.
(transitive) To indicate by beating or drumming.
To tread, as a path.
To exercise severely; to perplex; to trouble.
To be in agitation or doubt.
To make a sound when struck.
(military, intransitive) To make a succession of strokes on a drum.
To sound with more or less rapid alternations of greater and lesser intensity, so as to produce a pulsating effect; said of instruments, tones, or vibrations not perfectly in unison.
(transitive) To arrive at a place before someone.
(intransitive, MLE, MTE, slang, vulgar) To have sexual intercourse.
(transitive, slang) To rob; to cheat or scam.
verb
simple past tense of beat
(especially colloquial) past participle of beat
adjective
(US slang) Exhausted.
(slang) Dilapidated, beat up.
(African-American Vernacular and gay slang) Having impressively attractive makeup.
(slang) Boring.
(slang, of a person) Ugly.
noun
A beatnik.
adjective
Relating to the Beat Generation.