"beating" in the noun sense
1. beating, whipping
the act of overcoming or outdoing
2. beating, thrashing, licking, drubbing, lacing, trouncing, whacking
the act of inflicting corporal punishment with repeated blows
"beating" in the verb sense
1. beat, beat out, crush, shell, trounce, vanquish
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
"Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship"
"We beat the competition"
"Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game"
2. beat, beat up, work over
give a beating to subject to a beating, either as a punishment or as an act of aggression
"Thugs beat him up when he walked down the street late at night"
"The teacher used to beat the students"
3. beat
hit repeatedly
"beat on the door"
"beat the table with his shoe"
4. beat, pound, thump
move rhythmically
"Her heart was beating fast"
5. beat
shape by beating
"beat swords into ploughshares"
6. drum, beat, thrum
make a rhythmic sound
"Rain drummed against the windshield"
"The drums beat all night"
7. beat
glare or strike with great intensity
"The sun was beating down on us"
8. beat, flap
move with a thrashing motion
"The bird flapped its wings"
"The eagle beat its wings and soared high into the sky"
9. beat
sail with much tacking or with difficulty
"The boat beat in the strong wind"
10. beat, scramble
stir vigorously
"beat the egg whites"
"beat the cream"
11. beat
strike (a part of one's own body) repeatedly, as in great emotion or in accompaniment to music
"beat one's breast"
"beat one's foot rhythmically"
12. beat
be superior
"Reading beats watching television"
"This sure beats work!"
13. beat, bunk
avoid paying
"beat the subway fare"
14. tick, ticktock, ticktack, beat
make a sound like a clock or a timer
"the clocks were ticking"
"the grandfather clock beat midnight"
15. beat, flap
move with a flapping motion
"The bird's wings were flapping"
16. beat
indicate by beating, as with the fingers or drumsticks
"Beat the rhythm"
17. pulsate, beat, quiver
move with or as if with a regular alternating motion
"the city pulsated with music and excitement"
18. beat
make by pounding or trampling
"beat a path through the forest"
19. beat
produce a rhythm by striking repeatedly
"beat the drum"
20. beat
strike (water or bushes) repeatedly to rouse animals for hunting
21. outwit, overreach, outsmart, outfox, beat, circumvent
beat through cleverness and wit
"I beat the traffic"
"She outfoxed her competitors"
22. perplex, vex, stick, get, puzzle, mystify, baffle, beat, pose, bewilder, flummox, stupefy, nonplus, gravel, amaze, dumbfound
be a mystery or bewildering to
"This beats me!"
"Got me
23. exhaust, wash up, beat, tucker, tucker out
wear out completely
"This kind of work exhausts me"
"I'm beat"
"He was all washed up after the exam"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
Princeton University "About WordNet®."
WordNet®. Princeton University. 2010.
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