1. A stroke; a blow.
He, with a careless beat,
Struck out the mute creation at a heat.
Dryden.
2. A recurring stroke; a throb; a pulsation; as, a beat of the heart; the beat of the pulse.
3. (Mus.) (a) The rise or fall of the hand or foot, marking the divisions of time; a division of the measure
so marked. In the rhythm of music the beat is the unit. (b) A transient grace note, struck immediately
before the one it is intended to ornament.
4. (Acoustics & Mus.) A sudden swelling or reënforcement of a sound, recurring at regular intervals, and
produced by the interference of sound waves of slightly different periods of vibrations; applied also, by
analogy, to other kinds of wave motions; the pulsation or throbbing produced by the vibrating together of
two tones not quite in unison. See Beat, v. i., 8.
5. A round or course which is frequently gone over; as, a watchman's beat.
6. A place of habitual or frequent resort.
7. A cheat or swindler of the lowest grade; — often emphasized by dead; as, a dead beat. [Low]
Beat of drum (Mil.), a succession of strokes varied, in different ways, for particular purposes, as to
regulate a march, to call soldiers to their arms or quarters, to direct an attack, or retreat, etc. — Beat
of a watch, or clock, the stroke or sound made by the action of the escapement. A clock is in beat
or out of beat, according as the stroke is at equal or unequal intervals.
Beat
(Beat), a. Weary; tired; fatigued; exhausted. [Colloq.]
Quite beat, and very much vexed and disappointed.
Dickens.
Beaten
(Beat"en) a.
1. Made smooth by beating or treading; worn by use. "A broad and beaten way." Milton. "Beaten gold."
Shak.
2. Vanquished; conquered; baffled.
3. Exhausted; tired out.
4. Become common or trite; as, a beaten phrase. [Obs.]
5. Tried; practiced. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.
Beater
(Beat"er) n.
1. One who, or that which, beats.
2. A person who beats up game for the hunters. Black.
