beat

See also: Beat, béat, and béât

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

beat

Wikipedia

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-der.?

Proto-Germanic *bautaną

Proto-West Germanic *bautan

Old English bēatan

Middle English beten

English beat

Inherited from Middle English beten, from Old English bēatan (“to beat, pound, strike, lash, dash, thrust, hurt, injure”), from Proto-West Germanic *bautan, from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to push, strike”).

Cognates

Cognate with Dutch boten, botten, butten (“to push, strike”), German boßen (“to thrash”), Gothic *𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍄𐌰𐌽 (*bautan, “to beat, strike”) (whence, probably, Galician and Portuguese botar (“to expel; to throw”)); also Latin fūstis (“club, cudgel, knobbed stick, staff”), *fūtō (“to strike”), Albanian bahe, hobe (“sling”), Armenian բութ (butʻ), բույթ (buytʻ, “thumb”).

Pronunciation

enPR: bēt, IPA^(key): /biːt/
Audio (US): (file)
Homophone: beet
Rhymes: -iːt

Noun

beat (plural beats)

A stroke; a blow.
- 1687, [John Dryden], “(please specify the page number)”, in The Hind and the Panther. A Poem, in Three Parts, 2nd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:
  He, […] with a careless beat, / Struck out the mute creation at a heat.
A pulsation or throb.
a beat of the heart

the beat of the pulse
- 2026, Ginny Graves, “The Most Important Health Metric You're Not Tracking”, in Men's Health, volume 41, number 2, page 19:
  With each beat, your heart's left ventricle pumps blood into your arteries, which are all different sizes.
(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.
I love watching her dance to a pretty drum beat with a bouncy rhythm!
1. (music) The rhythm signalled by a conductor or other musician to the members of a group of musicians.
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
1. The route patrolled by a police officer or a guard.
  to walk the beat
  - 1886, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 3, in A Study in Scarlet:
    There has been a bad business during the night at 3, Lauriston Gardens, off the Brixton Road. Our man on the beat saw a light there about two in the morning, and as the house was an empty one, suspected that something was amiss.
  - 2019 January 29, Mike Masnick, “How My High School Destroyed An Immigrant Kid's Life Because He Drew The School's Mascot”, in Techdirt‎^[2]:
    […] the rise of embedding police into schools – so-called School Resource Officers (SROs), who are employed by the local police, but whose “beat” is a school. Those officers report to the local police department and not the school, and can, and frequently do, have different priorities.
  - 2025 July 23, Paul Clifton, “Air force: drones' developing railway role”, in RAIL, number 1040, page 31:
    "We are looking at being able to fly [drones] tens of miles from base, which is going to make a huge difference. It is the equivalent of having bobbies on the beat."
2. (journalism) The primary focus of a reporter's stories (such as police/courts, education, city government, business etc.).
  Synonym: newsbeat
  - 2020 April, Elizabeth Kolbert, “Why we won't avoid a climate catastrophe[3]”, in National Geographic:
    As an adult, I became a journalist whose beat is the environment. In a way, I’ve turned my youthful preoccupations into a profession.
(dated) An act of reporting news or scientific results before a rival; a scoop.
- 1898, unknown author, Scribner's Magazine, volume 24:
  It's a beat on the whole country.
(colloquial, dated) That which beats, or surpasses, another or others.
the beat of him
(dated or obsolete, Southern US) A precinct.
(dated) A place of habitual or frequent resort.
1. (Australia) An area frequented by gay men in search of sexual activity. See gay beat.
(archaic) A low cheat or swindler.
a dead beat
- 1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXVIII, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC:
  “If I get away I sha’n’t be here,” I says, “to prove these rapscallions ain’t your uncles, and I couldn’t do it if I was here. I could swear they was beats and bummers, that’s all, though that’s worth something.
(hunting) The act of scouring, or ranging over, a tract of land to rouse or drive out game; also, those so engaged, collectively.
- 1911, Hedley Peek, Frederick George Aflalo, Encyclopaedia of Sport:
  Bears coming out of holes in the rocks at the last moment, when the beat is close to them.
(fencing) A smart tap on the adversary's blade.
(slang) A makeup look; compare beat one's face.
- 2018, Leah Prinzivalli, “Kylie Jenner Shared a Sneak Peek of Her New Kylie Cosmetics Blush on Instagram”, in Allure‎^[4]:
  She made sure to give fans all the details about her beat in the caption.

Derived terms

Descendants

→ Pennsylvania German: biede

Translations

pulsation

Arabic: نَبْض m (nabḍ)
Azerbaijani: döyüntü
Catalan: batec (ca) m
Finnish: syke (fi)
French: battement (fr) m
Italian: pulsazione (it) f, battito (it) m
Portuguese: batida (pt) f
Romanian: bătaie (ro) f
Russian: бие́ние (ru) n (bijénije), уда́р (ru) m (udár)
Spanish: latido (es) m, pulsación (es) f
Swedish: slag (sv) n

pulse on the beat level

Bengali: তাল (bn) (tal)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 拍 (zh) (pāi), 拍子 (zh) (pāizi)
Finnish: isku (fi)
German: Schlag (de) m, Grundschlag m
Icelandic: taktslag n
Irish: béim (ga) f
Japanese: 拍 (ja) (はく, haku), 拍子 (ja) (ひょうし, hyōshi)
Korean: 박(拍) (ko) (bak), 박자(拍子) (ko) (bakja)
Spanish: pulsaciones (por minuto) f pl
Swedish: taktslag n
Welsh: curiad m

rhythm

Azerbaijani: ritm (az)
Bengali: তাল (bn) (tal)
Bulgarian: такт (bg) m (takt), ри́тъм (bg) m (rítăm)
Dutch: beat (nl) m, ritme (nl) n, puls (nl) f
Finnish: tahti (fi)
German: Beat (de) m, Takt (de) m
Italian: ritmo (it) m, tempo (it) m
Latin: rhythmus m
Macedonian: такт m (takt)
Malay: rentak
Māori: taki, ūngeri
Polish: rytm (pl)
Romanian: ritm (ro) n
Russian: разме́р (ru) m (razmér), ритм (ru) m (ritm)
Spanish: ritmo (es)
Swedish: rytm (sv) c
Ukrainian: ритм (rytm), такт (takt)

interference between two tones of almost equal frequency

Azerbaijani: döyünmək (az)
Dutch: zweving (nl) f
Finnish: huojunta (fi)
German: Schwebung f
Greek: διακρότημα (el) n (diakrótima)
Romanian: bătaie (ro) f
Russian: бие́ние (ru) m (bijénije)

short pause

Finnish: paussi (fi)
Japanese: 区切り (ja) (くぎり, kugiri), 句切り (ja) (くぎり, kugiri)

patrolled route

Dutch: ronde (nl) f
Finnish: kierros (fi)
French: ronde (fr) f
Italian: ronda (it) f
Spanish: jurisdicción (es)

area of a person's responsibility

Finnish: vastuualue; tontti (fi) (informal)
French: secteur (fr) m
Spanish: sector (es) m, ámbito (es) m

primary focus of a reporter's stories

Finnish: ala (fi)
French: domaine (fr) m
Spanish: área (es) f, sector (es) m, ámbito (es) m

act of reporting before a rival — see scoop

place of habitual or frequent resort

Finnish: kotipaikka (fi)

low cheat or swindler — see swindler

instrumental portion of a piece of hip-hop music

Finnish: biitti (fi)
Polish: bit (pl)
Romanian: beat (ro) n

hunting: act of scouring, or ranging over

Finnish: ajo (fi)
French: battue (fr) f
Spanish: batida (es)

fencing: tap on the adversary's blade

Portuguese: batida (pt) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Italian: pausa (it) f

Verb

beat (third-person singular simple present beats, present participle beating, simple past beat or (nonstandard) beated, past participle beaten or (colloquial) beat or (nonstandard) beated)

(transitive) To hit; to strike.
Synonyms: knock, pound, strike, hammer, whack; see also Thesaurus:attack, Thesaurus:hit

As soon as she heard that her father had died, she went into a rage and beat the wall with her fists until her knuckles bled.
- 1825?, “Hannah Limbrick, Executed for Murder”, in The Newgate Calendar: comprising interesting memoirs of the most notorious characters, page 231:
  Thomas Limbrick, who was only nine years of age, said he lived with his mother when Deborah was beat: that his mother throwed her down all along with her hands; and then against a wall […]
- 1988, Emily Honig, Gail Hershatter, “Divorce”, in Personal Voices: Chinese Women in the 1980's‎^[5], Stanford University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 219:
  The case of a woman named Qu Hua from Qiqihaer, Heilongjiang, illustrates this possibility. She married a worker named Xu Baocheng in 1980, and they got along very well until she gave birth to a girl. Then Xu immediately began to beat Qu, and forced her and the baby to live in a small shack.
- 2012 August 21, Ed Pilkington, “Death penalty on trial: should Reggie Clemons live or die?”, in The Guardian‎^[6]:
  In this account of events, the cards were stacked against Clemons from the beginning. His appeal lawyers have argued that he was physically beaten into making a confession, the jury was wrongfully selected and misdirected, and his conviction largely achieved on individual testimony with no supporting forensic evidence presented.
- 2021 March 10, Drachinifel, 5:50 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 1 (IJN 3(?) : 2 USN)‎^[7], archived from the original on 17 October 2022:
  The attack also afforded Helena to a front-seat view of literal air-to-air melee combat, as one Wildcat pilot of the Cactus Air Force, who was swooping in to help break up the attack, found himself out of machine-gun ammo; instead, he dropped his landing gear, positioned himself above the nearest bomber, and begun beating it to death, in midair, using his landing gear as clubs. After a bit of evasive action that the fighter easily kept up with, the repeated slamming broke something important, and the bomber spiralled down into the sea.
(transitive) To strike or pound repeatedly, usually in some sort of rhythm.
He danced hypnotically while she beat the atabaque.
(intransitive) To strike repeatedly; to inflict repeated blows; to knock vigorously or loudly.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Judges 19:22:
  […] the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door […]
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jonah 4:8:
  The sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die.
- 1625, Francis Bacon, “Of Envy”, in Essayes:
  This public envy, seemeth to beat chiefly upon principal officers or ministers, rather than upon kings, and estates themselves.
- 1662 January 1, John Dryden, To the Lord Chancellor Hyde, line 144:
  Sees rolling tempests vainly beat below.
- 1850, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Twilight”, in The Seaside and the Fireside:
  What tale do the roaring ocean, / And the nightwind, bleak and wild, / As they beat at the crazy casement, / Tell to that little child?
(intransitive) To move with pulsation or throbbing.
- 1812–18, George Gordon Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, canto 3, verse 21:
  A thousand hearts beat happily.
- 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto IV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:
  O heart, how fares it with thee now,
  ⁠That thou should’st fail from thy desire,
  ⁠Who scarcely darest to inquire,
  ‘What is it makes me beat so low?’
(transitive) To win against; to defeat or overcome; to do or be better than (someone); to excel in a particular, competitive event.
Jan had little trouble beating John in tennis. He lost five games in a row.

No matter how quickly Joe finished his test, Roger always beat him.

I just can't seem to beat the last level of this video game.
- 1991, Richard Thompson, “1952 Vincent Black Lightning”:
  There's nothing in this world beats a 52 Vincent and a red-headed girl.
(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.
- 1955, Robin Jenkins, The Cone-Gatherers, Canongate, published 2012, page 81:
  The part of the wood to be beaten for deer sloped all the way from the roadside to the loch.
To mix food in a rapid fashion. Compare whip.
Beat the eggs and whip the cream.
(transitive, UK, in haggling for a price of a buyer) To persuade the seller to reduce a price.
Synonym: negotiate

He wanted $50 for it, but I managed to beat him down to $35.
(transitive) To indicate by beating or drumming.
to beat a retreat; to beat to quarters
To tread, as a path.
- 1712, Sir Richard Blackmore, Creation: A Philosophical Poem, book 1:
  While I this unexampled task essay, / Pass awful gulfs, and beat my painful way, / Celestial Dove! divine assistance bring, / Sustain me on thy strong-extended wing,
To exercise severely; to perplex; to trouble.
- 1693, John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education:
  I know not why any one should waste his time, and beat his head about the Latin grammar, who does not intend to be a critick, or make speeches, and write dispatches in it.
To be in agitation or doubt.
- 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
  to still my beating mind
To make a sound when struck.
The drums beat.
(military, intransitive) To make a succession of strokes on a drum.
The drummers beat to call soldiers to their quarters.
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.
He beat me there.

The place is empty; we beat the crowd of people who come at lunch.
(intransitive, MLE, MTE, slang, vulgar) To have sexual intercourse.
Synonyms: do it, get it on, have sex, shag; see also Thesaurus:copulate

Bruv, she came in just as we started to beat.
- 2017-02-08, “Big (Millie B reply)”‎^[8]performed by Sophie Aspin:
  Millie B gets ten shags a week. New day, different guy, that's just peek. You can't name a guy that you haven't tried to beat. You can't name a guy that you haven't tried to beat.
(transitive, slang) To rob; to cheat or scam.
He beat me out of 12 bucks last night.

I already beat him, but he hasn't realized it yet.
- 1900, Fame, quoting Retail Trade Advocate, page 472:
  When one of 'em runs up a bill here, then goes off and deals somewhere else, and dodges me every time he sees me, that's the man I'm after with a sharp stick. [...] Honest people often get into tight places, and we would rather help 'em than hurt 'em then. But some just try to beat you.

Conjugation

Conjugation of *beat*
	present tense	past tense
infinitive	(to) beat

1st-person singular	beat	beat
2nd-person singular	beat, beatest^†	beat, beatest^†
3rd-person singular	beats, beateth^†	beat
plural	beat	beat

subjunctive	beat	beat

imperative	beat	—

participles	beating	beaten

^† Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

Terms derived from beat (verb)

Translations

to hit, to knock, to pound, to strike

Albanian: rrah (sq), rraf, dëkoj (sq), zhdëp (sq), mëshoj (sq) m
Arabic: ضَرَبَ (ar) (ḍaraba), دَقَّ (ar) (daqqa)
Egyptian Arabic: ضرب (ḍarab)

Hijazi Arabic: ضرب (ḍarab), طرق (ṭarag), صقع (ṣagaʕ), رقع (ragaʕ)
Armenian: ծեծել (hy) (cecel)
Aromanian: bat (roa-rup)
Azerbaijani: döymək (az), vurmaq (az)
Bashkir: һуғыу (huğıw)
Bangi: bete
Belarusian: біць impf (bicʹ), пабі́ць pf (pabícʹ); удара́ць impf (udarácʹ), ўдара́ць impf (wdarácʹ), уда́рыць pf (udárycʹ), ўда́рыць pf (wdárycʹ)
Bengali: পেটা (bn) (peṭa), মারা (bn) (mara)
Bulgarian: у́дрям (bg) (údrjam), би́я (bg) impf (bíja)
Catalan: batre (ca)
Chinese:
Dungan: да (da)

Mandarin: 打擊 / 打击 (zh) (dǎjī), 打 (zh) (dǎ)
Chuvash: ҫап (śap)
Comorian:
Maore Comorian: urema

Ngazidja Comorian: urema, ufufua
Czech: bít (cs) impf, tlouct (cs), mlátit (cs)
Dalmatian: batar, báter
Danish: slå (da)
Dutch: slaan (nl), kloppen (nl)
Esperanto: bati (eo)
Even: куси- (kusi-)
Finnish: hakata (fi), lyödä (fi), iskeä (fi)
French: battre (fr)
Friulian: bati
Galician: bater (gl), zoscar, zorregar, zoupar, bourar (gl)
Gallurese: fusticà, addubbà
German: schlagen (de), hauen (de)
Gothic: 𐌱𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐌰𐌽 (bliggwan)
Greek:
Ancient Greek: τύπτω (túptō), πλήσσω (plḗssō)
Hebrew: היכה \ הִכָּה (hiká)
Hindi: पीटना (hi) (pīṭnā), मारना (hi) (mārnā)
Hungarian: üt (hu)
Hunsrik: schwaarte
Icelandic: slá (is)
Ido: batar (io)
Ingrian: löövvä, tappaa, iskiä, peeksää, issuttaa, napsuttaa, kleittää, kommia
Irish: buail, gread
Istro-Romanian: båte
Italian: colpire (it), battere (it)
Japanese: 殴る (ja) (なぐる, naguru), 叩く (ja) (たたく, tataku)
Kalenjin: piring'
Kalmyk: цокх (tsokx)
Kashmiri: لایُن (lāyun), چوب دِنؠ (cōb din')
Kazakh: сою (soyuw)
Khmer: វាយ (km) (viəy)
Kikuyu: hora
Korean: 치다 (ko) (chida)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: lê dan (ku), lê xistin (ku)
Kyrgyz: уруу (ky) (uruu)
Ladino: aharvar, ajarvar
Lao: ຕີ (tī)
Latin: pulso, cūdō, verbero, battuo
Latvian: sist (lv)
Lingala: bete, kobete
Lithuanian: mušti (lt)
Lombard: batt (lmo)
Luhya: khupa
Macedonian: бие impf (bie)
Malayalam: അടിക്കുക (ml) (aṭikkuka)
Maltese: sawwat
Mansaka: bonal
Māori: tukituki, tuangau (with the use of a stick)
Middle English: beten
Naga:
Khiamniungan Naga: vèi
Nepali: ठोक्नु (ṭhoknu)
Norman: battre (Jersey), dêfoncer (Jersey)
Norwegian: slå (no)
Occitan: batre (oc)
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: бити impf (biti)
Old English: cnyssan
Papiamentu: bati
Persian: زدن (fa) (zadan)
Polish: uderzać (pl) impf, uderzyć (pl) pf; bić (pl) impf, pobić (pl) pf
Portuguese: bater (pt)
Quechua: maqay
Romanian: bate (ro)
Russian: бить (ru) impf (bitʹ), поби́ть (ru) pf (pobítʹ), ударя́ть (ru) impf (udarjátʹ), уда́рить (ru) pf (udáritʹ)
Sanskrit: वादयति (sa) (vādayati)
Sardinian:
Campidanese: surrare, sagamare

Logudorese: surrare, sagamare
Sassarese: sagamare, fusthigà, adubbà, iscudí
Scottish Gaelic: buail
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: би̏ти impf

Latin: bȉti (sh) impf
Sicilian: bàttiri (scn)
Slovak: biť impf, tĺcť
Slovene: tolči, tepsti (sl), bíti (sl) impf
Somali: tumid
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: biś impf
Spanish: golpear (es), pegar (es), aporrear (es), batir (es), apalizar (es)
Swahili: chapa (sw)
Swazi: shaya (ss)
Swedish: slå (sv)
Tagalog: ihampas
Tajik: задан (zadan‍)
Tetum: baku, tuku
Thai: ตี (th) (dtii)
Turkish: vurmak (tr)
Ottoman Turkish: چالمق (çalmak)
Ugaritic: 𐎎𐎃𐎕 (mḫṣ)
Ukrainian: би́ти (uk) impf (býty), поби́ти pf (pobýty), вдаря́ти impf (vdarjáty), ударя́ти impf (udarjáty), вда́рити pf (vdáryty), уда́рити pf (udáryty)
Urdu: پیٹنا (pīṭnā), مارنا (mārnā)
Venetan: bàtar (vec), bàter
Vietnamese: đánh (vi), đập (vi)
Volapük: flapön (vo), (augmentative) leflapön
Welsh: baeddu (cy)
Yiddish: שלאָגן (shlogn), קלאַפּן (klapn)

to strike or pound repeatedly — see also beat up

Albanian: rrah (sq), rraf
Arabic: (e.g., heart) وَجَفَ (wajafa)
Armenian: զարկել (hy) (zarkel), բաբախել (hy) (babaxel)
Azerbaijani: döymək (az)
Bashkir: туҡмау (tuqmaw)
Bengali: পেটা (bn) (peṭa), মারা (bn) (mara)
Catalan: colpejar (ca), batre (ca)
Chinese:
Dungan: да (da)

Mandarin: 打 (zh) (dǎ)
Czech: bít (cs), bušit (cs)
Dutch: kloppen (nl)
Finnish: hakata (fi), lyödä (fi)
French: battre (fr)
Friulian: bati
Galician: petar (gl), bater (gl)
German: schlagen (de)
Ido: batar (io)
Ingrian: pöllyttää
Irish: liúr, gread
Italian: percuotere (it)
Japanese: 打つ (ja) (うつ, utsu)
Kalmyk: цокх (tsokx)
Latin: tundō, plangō
Māori: patupatu, paopao, tuangau (using a stick)
Middle English: beten
Neapolitan: vatte
Norman: latter (Jersey)
Polish: bić (pl) impf
Portuguese: bater (pt)
Romanian: bate (ro)
Russian: бить (ru) impf (bitʹ), поби́ть (ru) pf (pobítʹ), ударя́ть (ru) impf (udarjátʹ), уда́рить (ru) pf (udáritʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: buail
Slovene: tolči, tepsti (sl)
Spanish: percutir (es), golpear [repetidamente], tundir (es), tundear (es), vapulear (es), aporrear (es), percutar (es), aporracear (es), sopapear (es), paporrear (es), apalear (es), zurrar (es), solfear (es), apalizar (es)
Swedish: slå (sv)
Turkish:
Ottoman Turkish: چالمق (çalmak)
Volapük: daflapön

intransitive: to strike repeatedly

Catalan: batre (ca)
Finnish: jyskyttää (fi), hakata (fi)
French: battre (fr)
Turkish:
Ottoman Turkish: چالمق (çalmak)

to move with pulsation or throbbing

Bashkir: һуғыу (huğıw), тибеү (tibew) (of heart)
Catalan: bategar (ca)
Esperanto: bati (eo)
Finnish: lyödä (fi), sykkiä (fi); jyskyttää (fi) (hard, as for fear or excitement)
French: battre (fr)
Galician: latexar (gl)
Hawaiian: ʻūpā (of the heart)
Hungarian: ver (hu), lüktet (hu)
Māori: kapakapa, whētuki, kapakapatū, panapana
Middle English: beten
Polish: bić (pl) impf
Serbo-Croatian: kucati (sh)
Spanish: (heart) latir (es) (el corazón)
Tocharian B: särp-
Turkish: atmak (tr)

to win against

Arabic: هَزَمَ (hazama), غَلَبَ (ḡalaba)
Hijazi Arabic: هَزَم (hazam), غلب (ḡalab)
Armenian: հաղթել (hy) (haġtʻel)
Azerbaijani: yenmək, basmaq (az), qalib gəlmək (az), məğlub etmək
Bashkir: еңеү (yeñew)
Bengali: হারানো (bn) (haranō), জেতা (bn) (jeta)
Bulgarian: надвивам (bg) (nadvivam), побеждавам (bg) (pobeždavam)
Catalan: vèncer (ca)
Cherokee: ᎠᏠᏍᎦ (atlosga)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 贏 / 赢 (zh) (yíng), 勝利 / 胜利 (zh) (shènglì)
Dutch: verslaan (nl), overwinnen (nl)
Esperanto: venki
Finnish: lyödä (fi), voittaa (fi), päihittää (fi)
French: vaincre (fr), battre (fr)
German: schlagen (de), gewinnen (de)
Hebrew: הביס (he) (hevís)
Hindi: जीतना (hi) (jītnā)
Hmong:
White Hmong: kovyeej
Hungarian: legyőz (hu), megver (hu)
Italian: battere (it)
Japanese: 勝つ (ja) (かつ, katsu), 勝利する (しょうりする, shōri-suru)
Kashmiri: ہار دِنؠ, زینُن (zēnun)
Khmer: ឈ្នះ (km) (chnĕəh)
Korean: 이기다 (ko) (igida)
Latin: vincō (la)
Māori: tārū
Middle English: beten
Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
Nepali: जित्नु (jitnu), हराउनु (harāunu), टप्नु (ṭapnu)
Norman: battre (Jersey)
Norwegian: slå (no)
Polish: bić (pl) impf, pobić (pl) pf
Portuguese: bater (pt)
Romanian: bate (ro), învinge (ro)
Russian: побежда́ть (ru) impf (pobeždátʹ), победи́ть (ru) pf (pobedítʹ); поби́ть (ru) pf (pobítʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: buail
Slovene: premagati
Spanish: vencer (es), derrotar (es), ganar (es), aventajar (es), profligar (es), causear (es) (easily, Chile), batir (es), superar (es)
Swedish: slå (sv), besegra (sv), klå (sv)
Thai: ชนะ (th) (chá-ná)
Tibetan: འཇོམས ('joms)
Turkish: yenmek (tr)
Urdu: جیتنا (jītnā)
Vietnamese: thắng (vi)
Welsh: curo (cy)
Zhuang: please add this translation if you can

nautical - to sail to windward

Finnish: luovia (fi)
French: remonter au vent
Hungarian: csorog (hu)
Māori: ngongo, kake, whakakake, tūmū
Russian: лави́ровать (ru) impf (lavírovatʹ)
Spanish: barloventear (es)
Swedish: slå (sv)

to strike in order to drive out game

Finnish: pieksää (fi)

to mix food

Arabic: خَفَقَ (ḵafaqa‬)
Bulgarian: бия (bg) (bija)
Catalan: batre (ca)
Dutch: kloppen (nl)
Esperanto: bati (eo)
Finnish: vatkata (fi)
French: battre (fr), fouetter (fr)
German: schlagen (de)
Japanese: 泡立てる (ja) (awadateru)
Korean: 털다 (ko) (teolda)
Middle English: swyngen, swengen, beten
Norman: battre (Jersey)
Polish: bić (pl) impf
Portuguese: bater (pt)
Russian: взбива́ть (ru) impf (vzbivátʹ), взбить (ru) pf (vzbitʹ)
Spanish: batir (es), revolver (es), sacudir (es)
Swedish: vispa (sv)
Tagalog: batiin, magbati

to persuade to reduce a price

Finnish: tinkiä (fi)
Russian: сбить (цену) pf (sbitʹ (cenu))

to indicate by beating or drumming

Finnish: rummuttaa (fi)
French: battre (fr)
Polish: bić (pl) impf
Telugu: వాయించు (te) (vāyiñcu)

to tread, as a path

Finnish: tallata (fi)

to exercise severely; to perplex; to trouble

Finnish: paukuttaa (fi)
French: se mettre martel en tête (fr)

to be in agitation or doubt

Finnish: myrskytä (fi)

to make a sound when struck

Finnish: paukkua (fi); päristä (fi) (of fast beat of drums)
Polish: bić (pl) impf
Polish: bić (pl) impf

military: to make a succession of strokes on a drum

Finnish: rummuttaa (fi)

to sound with more or less rapid alternations of greater and less intensity

Finnish: päristä (fi) (intransitive), päristää (transitive)

to arrive before someone

Finnish: olla nopeampi kuin
French: battre (fr), griller (fr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} pukul (id), ^{(please verify)} hantam (id), ^{(please verify)} hajar (id), ^{(please verify)} ketuk (id), ^{(please verify)} ketok (id)
Latin: ^{(please verify)} pello (1,2)
Norman: ^{(please verify)} astitchi (Jersey), ^{(please verify)} camailli (Jersey)
Old English: ^{(please verify)} hnossian (1,2)

Etymology 2

From Middle English bet (simple past of beten "to beat"), from Old English bēot (simple past of bēatan "to beat"). Middle English bet would regularly yield *beet; the modern form is influenced by the present stem and the past participle beaten, perhaps by analogy with the Early Modern English paradigm eat:eat (“ate”):eaten. Pronunciations with /ɛ/ (from Middle English bette, alternative simple past of beten) are possibly analogous to read (/ɹɛd/), led, met, etc.^[1]

Pronunciation

enPR: bēt, bĕt, IPA^(key): /biːt/, (often proscribed) /bɛt/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -iːt, -ɛt
Homophones: beet, bet

Verb

beat

simple past tense of beat
(especially colloquial) past participle of beat

Adjective

beat (comparative more beat, superlative most beat)

(US slang) Exhausted.
After the long day, she was feeling completely beat.
- 1957 September 5, Jack Kerouac, chapter 10, in On the Road, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →OCLC, part 2:
  I stayed in San Francisco a week and had the beatest time of my life. Marylou and I walked around for miles, looking for food-money.
(slang) Dilapidated, beat up.
Dude, you drive a beat car like that and you ain’t gonna get no honeys.
(African-American Vernacular and gay slang) Having impressively attractive makeup.
Her face was beat for the gods!
(slang) Boring.
(slang, of a person) Ugly.

Synonyms

(exhausted): See also Thesaurus:fatigued
(dilapidated): See also Thesaurus:ramshackle
(boring): See also Thesaurus:boring
(ugly): See also Thesaurus:ugly

Derived terms

sunbeat

Translations

fabulous

Dutch: mieters (nl)

exhausted

Dutch: afgemat (nl), bekaf (nl), uitgeput (nl)
Finnish: puhki (fi), loppu (fi), uupunut (fi)
French: claqué (fr), crevé (fr), épuisé (fr)
Portuguese: abatido (pt), batido (pt)
Swedish: slutkörd (sv)

Etymology 3

From beatnik, or beat generation.^[2]

Alternative forms

Beat

Pronunciation

enPR: bēt, IPA^(key): /biːt/
Audio (US): (file)
Homophone: beet
Rhymes: -iːt

Noun

beat (plural beats)

A beatnik.
- 2008 March, David Wills, Beatdom, number 3:
  The beats were pioneers with no destination, changing the world one impulse at a time.

Adjective

beat (comparative more beat, superlative most beat)

Relating to the Beat Generation.
beat poetry

References

^ Jespersen, Otto (1942), A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)‎^[1], volume VI: Morphology, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 5.43, page 70.
^ DeLone et. al. (Eds.) (1975). Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. →ISBN.

Anagrams

Bate, Beta, Teba, abet, bate, beta

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin beātus.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Northern) [be̞ˈat]
IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central, Valencia, Northwestern) [beˈat]
Rhymes: -at

Adjective

beat (feminine beata, masculine plural beats, feminine plural beates)

saint, beatified

Derived terms

beateria

Noun

beat m (plural beats, feminine beata, feminine plural beates)

monk

Related terms

beatífic

Dutch

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:

beat

Wikipedia ^nl

Etymology

Borrowed from English beat.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /bit/
Audio: (file)
Hyphenation: beat
Rhymes: -it
Homophones: bied, biedt, biet

Noun

beat m (plural beats, diminutive beatje n)

a beat, a rhythmic pattern, notably in music
(music) beat an early rock genre

Derived terms

Anagrams

bate

Finnish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English beat.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbiːt/, [ˈbiːt̪]
Rhymes: -iːt

Noun

beat

(jazz, hiphop, EDM) beat

Declension

Inflection of beat (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		beat	beatit
genitive		beatin	beatien
partitive		beatiä	beatejä
illative		beatiin	beateihin
		singular	plural
nominative		beat	beatit
accusative	nom.	beat	beatit
accusative	gen.	beatin	beatit
genitive		beatin	beatien
partitive		beatiä	beatejä
inessive		beatissä	beateissä
elative		beatistä	beateistä
illative		beatiin	beateihin
adessive		beatillä	beateillä
ablative		beatiltä	beateiltä
allative		beatille	beateille
essive		beatinä	beateinä
translative		beatiksi	beateiksi
abessive		beatittä	beateittä
instructive		—	beatein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of beat (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor
		singular	plural
nominative		beatini	beatini
accusative	nom.	beatini	beatini
accusative	gen.	beatini	beatini
genitive		beatini	beatieni
partitive		beatiäni	beatejäni
inessive		beatissäni	beateissäni
elative		beatistäni	beateistäni
illative		beatiini	beateihini
adessive		beatilläni	beateilläni
ablative		beatiltäni	beateiltäni
allative		beatilleni	beateilleni
essive		beatinäni	beateinäni
translative		beatikseni	beateikseni
abessive		beatittäni	beateittäni
instructive		—	—
comitative		—	beateineni

second-person singular possessor
		singular	plural
nominative		beatisi	beatisi
accusative	nom.	beatisi	beatisi
accusative	gen.	beatisi	beatisi
genitive		beatisi	beatiesi
partitive		beatiäsi	beatejäsi
inessive		beatissäsi	beateissäsi
elative		beatistäsi	beateistäsi
illative		beatiisi	beateihisi
adessive		beatilläsi	beateilläsi
ablative		beatiltäsi	beateiltäsi
allative		beatillesi	beateillesi
essive		beatinäsi	beateinäsi
translative		beatiksesi	beateiksesi
abessive		beatittäsi	beateittäsi
instructive		—	—
comitative		—	beateinesi

first-person plural possessor
		singular	plural
nominative		beatimme	beatimme
accusative	nom.	beatimme	beatimme
accusative	gen.	beatimme	beatimme
genitive		beatimme	beatiemme
partitive		beatiämme	beatejämme
inessive		beatissämme	beateissämme
elative		beatistämme	beateistämme
illative		beatiimme	beateihimme
adessive		beatillämme	beateillämme
ablative		beatiltämme	beateiltämme
allative		beatillemme	beateillemme
essive		beatinämme	beateinämme
translative		beatiksemme	beateiksemme
abessive		beatittämme	beateittämme
instructive		—	—
comitative		—	beateinemme

second-person plural possessor
		singular	plural
nominative		beatinne	beatinne
accusative	nom.	beatinne	beatinne
accusative	gen.	beatinne	beatinne
genitive		beatinne	beatienne
partitive		beatiänne	beatejänne
inessive		beatissänne	beateissänne
elative		beatistänne	beateistänne
illative		beatiinne	beateihinne
adessive		beatillänne	beateillänne
ablative		beatiltänne	beateiltänne
allative		beatillenne	beateillenne
essive		beatinänne	beateinänne
translative		beatiksenne	beateiksenne
abessive		beatittänne	beateittänne
instructive		—	—
comitative		—	beateinenne

third-person possessor
		singular	plural
nominative		beatinsä	beatinsä
accusative	nom.	beatinsä	beatinsä
accusative	gen.	beatinsä	beatinsä
genitive		beatinsä	beatiensä
partitive		beatiään beatiänsä	beatejään beatejänsä
inessive		beatissään beatissänsä	beateissään beateissänsä
elative		beatistään beatistänsä	beateistään beateistänsä
illative		beatiinsä	beateihinsä
adessive		beatillään beatillänsä	beateillään beateillänsä
ablative		beatiltään beatiltänsä	beateiltään beateiltänsä
allative		beatilleen beatillensä	beateilleen beateillensä
essive		beatinään beatinänsä	beateinään beateinänsä
translative		beatikseen beatiksensä	beateikseen beateiksensä
abessive		beatittään beatittänsä	beateittään beateittänsä
instructive		—	—
comitative		—	beateineen beateinensä

Synonyms

biitti

Derived terms

compounds

beatmusiikki

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English beat.

Adjective

beat (invariable)

beat (50s US literary and 70s UK music scenes)

Noun

beat m (invariable)

beat (rhythm accompanying music)

Anagrams

beta, tabe

Latin

Verb

beat

third-person singular present active indicative of beō

Megleno-Romanian

Etymology

From a contracted Vulgar Latin form of Late Latin bibitus (“drunk”), from Latin bibō (“drink”).

Adjective

beat

drunk

Romanian

Etymology 1

From a contracted Vulgar Latin form (possibly *beb(e)tus) of Late Latin bibitus (“drunk”), from Latin bibō (“drink”). Compare Spanish beodo.

Doublet of băut ("beat" probably being of Transylvanian origin).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [be̯at]

Adjective

beat m or n (feminine singular beată, masculine plural beți, feminine/neuter plural bete)

drunk, drunken, intoxicated; tipsy
Synonyms: îmbătat; băut; (very formal) în stare de ebrietate; (slang) matol; (slang) matolit; (slang) pilit; (slang) mangă; (slang) țeapăn; (slang) cherchelit

Antonym: treaz

Declension

Declension of *beat*
		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	beat		beată	beți	bete
nominative- accusative	definite	beatul		beata	beții	betele
genitive- dative	indefinite	beat		bete	beți	bete
genitive- dative	definite	beatului		betei	beților	betelor

Derived terms

beție

Related terms

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English beat.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [bit]

Noun

beat n (plural beaturi)

(music) beat
Nu mint, doar că tu nu înțelegi ce vreau să transmit pe beat.
I ain't lying, you just don't understand what I'm tryna convey on the beat.

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	beat	beatul	beaturi	beaturile
genitive-dative	beat	beatului	beaturi	beaturilor
vocative	beatule		beaturilor

Synonyms

Rukai

Alternative forms

beate

Noun

beat

meat

Volapük

Noun

beat (genitive beata, plural beats)

happiness

Declension

Declension of *beat*
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	beat	beats
Genitive	beata	beatas
Dative	beate	beates
Accusative	beati	beatis
Predicative¹	beatu	beatus
Vocative	o beat	o beats

Introduced in Volapük Nulik.

[1] Jespersen, Otto (1942), A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)‎^[1], volume VI: Morphology, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 5.43, page 70.

[2] DeLone et. al. (Eds.) (1975). Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. →ISBN.

[1]

[2]

English

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

See also

Verb

Conjugation

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Verb

Adjective

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

Adjective

References

Anagrams

Catalan

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Derived terms

Noun

Related terms

Further reading

Dutch

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Anagrams

Finnish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Synonyms

Derived terms

Further reading

Italian

Etymology

Adjective

Noun

Anagrams

Latin

Verb

Megleno-Romanian

Etymology

Adjective

Romanian

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Adjective

Declension

Derived terms

Related terms

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Synonyms

Rukai

Alternative forms

Noun

Volapük

Noun

Declension