Beat

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Contents

Beat may refer to:

[edit] Physical beating

  • To hit repeatedly. This is the original meaning. The subject of the verb may be a human or something inanimate, as in:-
"This is the fifth time this year so far that our rent collector has been beaten up and robbed."
"Storm waves beat against continuous jagged rocks and there was no hope of reaching a safe harbor."

[edit] Other forms of defeating

Via the idea of winning/losing a fist or stick fight, came:-

  • To defeat in a battle or fight.
  • To defeat in a non-violent competitive sport or game.

[edit] Music

Look up beat in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Look up beating in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

[edit] Literature

[edit] Science

  • Beat (acoustics), the oscillation between zero intensity and full intensity that occurs when two frequencies (which are not harmonically related) are added together, caused by alternating constructive and destructive interference of the pressure waves

[edit] Areas of territory

A "beaten path" is a path made by the repeated treadings of feet. Thus:

  • Beat, the territory and time that a police officer patrols
  • Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men for the purpose of casual sex

[edit] Hunting

  • "Beating for game" in hunting means to systematically attack vegetation to drive out of cover whatever animals or birds that the hunters are hunting.

[edit] Miscellaneous

[edit] Etymology

  • "Beat" is derived from Anglo-Saxon bēatan, likely with some influence from the verb French battre, Late Latin battuere = "to beat", of Germanic origin.
  • The Swiss man's name "Beat" came from Latin beatus = "blessed".