beating Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the act of overcoming or outdoing
    whipping.
  2. noun the act of inflicting corporal punishment with repeated blows
    trouncing; whacking; drubbing; thrashing; licking; lacing.
  3. verb come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
    shell; beat; trounce; crush; beat out; vanquish.
    • Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship
    • We beat the competition
    • Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game
  4. verb give a beating to; subject to a beating, either as a punishment or as an act of aggression
    beat; beat up; work over.
    • Thugs beat him up when he walked down the street late at night
    • The teacher used to beat the students
  5. verb hit repeatedly
    beat.
    • beat on the door
    • beat the table with his shoe
  6. verb move rhythmically
    beat; pound; thump.
    • Her heart was beating fast
  7. verb shape by beating
    beat.
    • beat swords into ploughshares
  8. verb make a rhythmic sound
    beat; drum; thrum.
    • Rain drummed against the windshield
    • The drums beat all night
  9. verb glare or strike with great intensity
    beat.
    • The sun was beating down on us
  10. verb move with a thrashing motion
    beat; flap.
    • The bird flapped its wings
    • The eagle beat its wings and soared high into the sky
  11. verb sail with much tacking or with difficulty
    beat.
    • The boat beat in the strong wind
  12. verb stir vigorously
    beat; scramble.
    • beat the egg whites
    • beat the cream
  13. verb strike (a part of one's own body) repeatedly, as in great emotion or in accompaniment to music
    beat.
    • beat one's breast
    • beat one's foot rhythmically
  14. verb be superior
    beat.
    • Reading beats watching television
    • This sure beats work!
  15. verb avoid paying
    beat; bunk.
    • beat the subway fare
  16. verb make a sound like a clock or a timer
    beat; tick; ticktack; ticktock.
    • the clocks were ticking
    • the grandfather clock beat midnight
  17. verb move with a flapping motion
    beat; flap.
    • The bird's wings were flapping
  18. verb indicate by beating, as with the fingers or drumsticks
    beat.
    • Beat the rhythm
  19. verb move with or as if with a regular alternating motion
    beat; pulsate; quiver.
    • the city pulsated with music and excitement
  20. verb make by pounding or trampling
    beat.
    • beat a path through the forest
  21. verb produce a rhythm by striking repeatedly
    beat.
    • beat the drum
  22. verb strike (water or bushes) repeatedly to rouse animals for hunting
    beat.
  23. verb beat through cleverness and wit
    outsmart; beat; overreach; outwit; outfox; circumvent.
    • I beat the traffic
    • She outfoxed her competitors
  24. verb be a mystery or bewildering to
    mystify; perplex; bewilder; get; beat; puzzle; pose; amaze; vex; baffle; flummox; stick; stupefy; gravel; nonplus; dumbfound.
    • This beats me!
    • Got me--I don't know the answer!
    • a vexing problem
    • This question really stuck me
  25. verb wear out completely
    wash up; exhaust; tucker; beat; tucker out.
    • This kind of work exhausts me
    • I'm beat
    • He was all washed up after the exam

WordNet


Beat"ing noun
Definitions
  1. The act of striking or giving blows; punishment or chastisement by blows.
  2. Pulsation; throbbing; as, the beating of the heart.
  3. (Acoustics & Mus.) Pulsative sounds. See Beat, n.
  4. (Naut.) The process of sailing against the wind by tacks in zigzag direction.

Webster 1913