beating

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
beat/biːt/

▶verb (past beat; past part. beaten)

• 1 strike (a person or an animal) repeatedly and violently so as to hurt or punish them.

  ■ strike repeatedly so as to make a noise.

  ■ flatten or shape (metal) by striking it repeatedly with a hammer.

• 2 defeat in a game or other competitive situation.

  ■ surpass (a record or score).

  ■ overcome (a problem).

  ■ informal baffle: it beats me how you manage it.

• 3 (of the heart) pulsate.

• 4 (of a bird) move (the wings) up and down.

• 5 stir (cooking ingredients) vigorously.

• 6 move across (an area of land) repeatedly striking at the ground cover in order to raise game birds for shooting.

• 7 Sailing sail into the wind, with repeated tacking.

▶noun

• 1 a main accent or rhythmic unit in music or poetry.

  ■ a rhythm or rhythmic sound or movement.

  ■ a pulsation of the heart.

  ■ a periodic variation of sound or amplitude due to the combination of two sounds or other vibrations with similar but not identical frequencies.

• 2 the movement of a bird's wings.

• 3 an area allocated to a police officer and patrolled on foot.

  ■ a spell of duty allocated to a police officer.

  ■ a stretch of water fished by an angler.

• 4 a brief pause or moment of hesitation.

▶adjective informal completely exhausted.

– phrases
beat about the bush discuss a matter without coming to the point.
beat the bounds historical mark parish boundaries by walking round them and striking certain points with rods.
beat the clock perform a task within a fixed time limit.
beat a (hasty) retreat withdraw.
beat time indicate or follow a musical tempo with a baton or other means.
off the beaten track in or into an isolated place.
to beat the band informal, chiefly N. Amer. so as to surpass all competition.

– phrasal verbs
beat someone down force someone to reduce the price of something.
beat it informal leave a place.
beat off vulgar slang (of a man) masturbate.
beat someone/thing off succeed in resisting an attacker or an attack.
beat someone up assault someone by hitting them repeatedly.

■ (beat oneself up) informal reproach or criticize oneself excessively.

beat up on someone N. Amer. assault someone.

– derivatives
beatable adjective,
beating noun.

– origin OE bēatan, of Gmc origin.