beat

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noun

1 rhythm

ADJECTIVE

▪ regular, rhythmic, steady

▪ pounding

▪ disco, funky, hip-hop, techno, etc.

▪

He chants his lyrics over an infectious disco beat.

▪ drum (usually drumbeat)

▪ heart (usually heartbeat)

▪ hoof

VERB + BEAT

▪ clap to, dance to, sway to

▪

They danced to the rhythmic beat of the music.

▪ feel

▪

She felt the beat of his heart.

▪ hear

▪

We heard the beat of distant drums.

▪ count

▪

Count four beats and then start singing.

PHRASES

▪ two, three, four, etc. beats to the bar (BrE)

▪

The piece has four beats to the bar/measure.

▪ sb's heart misses a beat, sb's heart skips a beat (= sb feels very nervous)

▪

As I opened the letter, my heart missed a beat.

2 of a police officer

VERB + BEAT

▪ pound, walk (both BrE)

▪

We have two officers walking the beat after midnight.

PREPOSITION

▪ on the beat

▪

officers on the beat

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verb

1 in sports, business, politics, etc.

ADVERB

▪ comfortably (BrE), comprehensively (BrE), convincingly (esp. BrE), easily, handily (AmE), hands down, soundly

▪

He beat her hands down.

▪ consistently

▪

a higher-rated player who consistently beat her

▪ narrowly

▪

He was narrowly beaten by his opponent.

PREPOSITION

▪ at

▪

She beat him at chess.

▪ by

▪

I beat her by just three points.

PHRASES

▪ beat sb into second, third, etc. place

▪

He was beaten into second place by the American.

2 hit sb

ADVERB

▪ badly, brutally, mercilessly, savagely, severely, soundly, violently

▪ constantly, repeatedly, routinely

▪

His stepfather repeatedly beat his mother.

PREPOSITION

▪ with

▪

She was beaten with a metal bar.

PHRASES

▪ beat sb about the head (BrE), beat sb over the head

▪

He had been beaten over the head with a rock.

▪ beat sb to death

▪ beat sb unconscious

3 of heart/wings

ADVERB

▪ fast, frantically, furiously, painfully, rapidly, wildly

▪

I could feel my heart beating wildly.

▪ loudly

4 mix

ADVERB

▪ thoroughly, well

▪

Beat the mixture well, until it is light and creamy.

▪ lightly

▪

Add three eggs, lightly beaten.

Beat is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑heart, ↑pulse, ↑rain, ↑wing

Beat is used with these nouns as the object: ↑academy, ↑addiction, ↑blues, ↑butter, ↑cancer, ↑carpet, ↑challenger, ↑champion, ↑chest, ↑clock, ↑competitor, ↑cream, ↑crime, ↑drum, ↑egg, ↑expectation, ↑fist, ↑hand, ↑illness, ↑margarine, ↑odds, ↑opponent, ↑recession, ↑record, ↑retreat, ↑rhythm, ↑rival, ↑side, ↑system, ↑team, ↑time, ↑traffic, ↑white, ↑wife, ↑wing