What is the meaning of beating?

noun

verb

  • Come out better in a competition, race, or conflict.
    • usage: "Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship"; "We beat the competition"; "Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game"
  • Give a beating to; subject to a beating, either as a punishment or as an act of aggression.
    • usage: "Thugs beat him up when he walked down the street late at night"; "The teacher used to beat the students"
  • Hit repeatedly.
    • usage: "beat on the door"; "beat the table with his shoe"
  • Move rhythmically.
    • usage: "Her heart was beating fast"
  • Shape by beating.
    • usage: "beat swords into ploughshares"
  • Make a rhythmic sound.
    • usage: "Rain drummed against the windshield"; "The drums beat all night"
  • Glare or strike with great intensity.
    • usage: "The sun was beating down on us"
  • Move with a thrashing motion.
    • usage: "The bird flapped its wings"; "The eagle beat its wings and soared high into the sky"
  • Sail with much tacking or with difficulty.
    • usage: "The boat beat in the strong wind"
  • Stir vigorously.
    • usage: "beat the egg whites"; "beat the cream"
  • Strike (a part of one's own body) repeatedly, as in great emotion or in accompaniment to music.
    • usage: "beat one's breast"; "beat one's foot rhythmically"
  • Be superior.
    • usage: "Reading beats watching television"; "This sure beats work"
  • Avoid paying.
    • usage: "beat the subway fare"
  • Make a sound like a clock or a timer.
    • usage: "the clocks were ticking"; "the grandfather clock beat midnight"
  • Move with a flapping motion.
    • usage: "The bird's wings were flapping"
  • Indicate by beating, as with the fingers or drumsticks.
    • usage: "Beat the rhythm"
  • Move with or as if with a regular alternating motion.
    • usage: "the city pulsated with music and excitement"
  • Make by pounding or trampling.
    • usage: "beat a path through the forest"
  • Produce a rhythm by striking repeatedly.
    • usage: "beat the drum"
  • Strike (water or bushes) repeatedly to rouse animals for hunting.
  • Beat through cleverness and wit.
    • usage: "I beat the traffic"; "She outfoxed her competitors"
  • Be a mystery or bewildering to.
    • usage: "This beats me"; "Got me-I don't know the answer"; "a vexing problem"; "This question really stuck me"
  • Wear out completely.
    • usage: "This kind of work exhausts me"; "I'm beat"; "He was all washed up after the exam"
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APAWordNet. (2010). beating. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/beating/definitions/1169084
ChicagoWordNet. 2010. "beating" http://smartdefine.org/beating/definitions/1169084 (accessed September 20, 2026).
HarvardWordNet 2010, beating, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/beating/definitions/1169084>.
MLAWordNet. "beating" 23 October 2010. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/beating/definitions/1169084>
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