Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BEAT, v.t. [pret. beat; pp. beat, beaten. Sax. beatan, gebeotan, to beat; gebeaten, beaten; W. bæzu; Fr. battre, or batre; Sp. batir; Port. bater; It. battere; L. batuo; Russ. botayu; Ar. خَبَطَ gabata, and كَبَتَ kabata; Heb. Ch. Syr. חבט, habat. Perhaps, Hindoo, pata; to kill; Burman, potai, id.; as we say, to smite and to slay. Hence, the oirpata, man-killers, in Herodotus. Class Bd, Nos. 20, 23, 33. See Abate.]

1. To strike repeatedly; to lay on repeated blows with a stick, with the hand or fist, or with any instrument, and for any cause, just or unjust, or for punishment. – Luke xii. Deut xxv.
2. To strike an instrument of music; to play on, as a drum. – Shak.
3. To break, bruise, comminute, or pulverize by beating or pounding, as pepper or spices. – Ex. xxx.
4. To extend by beating, as gold or other malleable substance; or to hammer into any form; to forge. – Ex. xxxix.
5. To strike bushes; to shake by beating, or to make a noise to rouse game. – Prior.
6. To thresh; to force out corn from the husk by blows. – Ruth.
7. To break, mix or agitate by beating; as, to beat an egg with any other thing. – Boyle.
8. To dash or strike, as water; to strike or brush, as wind. – Milton.
9. To tread, as a path. – Blackmore.
10. To overcome in a battle, contest or strife; to vanquish or conquer; as, one beats another at play. Pyrrhus beat the Carthaginians at sea. – Arbuthnot.
11. To harass; to exercise severely; to over-labor as, to beat the brains about logic. – Hakewill. To beat down, to break, destroy, throw down, by beating or battering, as a wall. Also, to press down or lay flat, as by treading, by a current of water, by violent wind, &c. – Shak. Also, to lower the price by importunity or argument. Also, to depress or crush; as, to beat down opposition. Also, to sink or lessen the price or value. Usury beats down the price of land. – Bacon. To beat back, to compel to retire or return. To beat into, to teach or instill, by repetition of instruction. To beat up, to attack suddenly; to alarm or disturb; as, to beat up an enemy's quarters. To beat the wing, to flutter; to move with fluttering agitation. To beat off, to repel or drive back. To beat the hoof, to walk; to go on foot. To beat time, to measure or regulate time in music by the motion of the hand or foot. In the manege, a horse beats the dust, when at each motion he does not take in ground enough with his fore legs; and at curvets, when he does them too precipitately, or too low. He beats upon a walk, when he walks too short. – Encyc. To beat out, to extend by hammering. In popular use, to be beat out, is to be extremely fatigued; to have the strength exhausted by labor or exertion.