n. 25B6; verb
they were beaten with truncheons : HIT, strike, batter, thump, bang, hammer, punch, knock, thrash, pound, pummel, slap, rain blows on; assault, attack, abuse; cudgel, club, birch; informal wallop, belt, bash, whack, thwack, clout, clobber, slug, tan, biff, bop, sock, deck, plug, beat the living daylights out of, give someone a good hiding.
the waves beat all along the shore : BREAK ON/AGAINST, dash against; lash, strike, lap, wash; splash, ripple, roll; poetic/literary plash, lave.
the metal is beaten into a die : HAMMER, forge, form, shape, mould, work, stamp, fashion, model.
her heart was still beating : PULSATE, pulse, palpitate, vibrate, throb; pump, pound, thump, thud, hammer, drum; pitter-patter, go pit-a-pat.
the eagle beat its wings : FLAP, flutter, thresh, thrash, wave, vibrate, oscillate.
beat the cream into the mixture : WHISK, mix, blend, whip.
she beat a path through the grass : TREAD, tramp, trample, wear, flatten, press down.
the team they need to beat : DEFEAT, conquer, win against, get the better of, vanquish, trounce, rout, overpower, overcome, subdue; informal lick, thrash, whip, wipe the floor with, clobber.
he beat the record : SURPASS, exceed, better, improve on, go one better than, eclipse, transcend, top, trump, cap.
25B6; noun
the song has a good beat : RHYTHM, pulse, metre, time, measure, cadence; stress, accent.
the beat of hooves : POUNDING, banging, thumping, thudding, booming, hammering, battering, crashing.
the beat of her heart : PULSE, pulsating, vibration, throb, palpitation, reverberation; pounding, thump, thud, hammering, drumming; pit-a-pat.
a policeman on his beat : CIRCUIT, round, route, way, path.
25B6; adjective (informal) phew, I'm beat! : See exhausted sense 1.
25A0; beat a (hasty) retreat . See retreat verb sense 1.
25A0; beat it (informal) . See run verb sense 2.
25A0; beat someone/something off REPEL, fight off, fend off, stave off, repulse, drive away/back, force back, beat back, push back, put to flight.
25A0; beat someone up ASSAULT, attack, mug, thrash; informal knock about/around, do over, work over, rough up, fill in, lay into, lace into, sail into, beat the living daylights out of, let someone have it; Brit. informal duff someone up; N. Amer. informal beat up on.