Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Beat \Beat\, v. t. [imp. {Beat}; p. p. {Beat}, {Beaten}; p. pr.
   & vb. n. {Beating}.] [OE. beaten, beten, AS. be['a]tan; akin
   to Icel. bauta, OHG. b?zan. Cf. 1st {Butt}, {Button}.]
   1. To strike repeatedly; to lay repeated blows upon; as, to
      beat one's breast; to beat iron so as to shape it; to beat
      grain, in order to force out the seeds; to beat eggs and
      sugar; to beat a drum.

            Thou shalt beat some of it [spices] very small.
                                                  --Ex. xxx. 36.

            They did beat the gold into thin plates. --Ex.
                                                  xxxix. 3.

   2. To punish by blows; to thrash.

   3. To scour or range over in hunting, accompanied with the
      noise made by striking bushes, etc., for the purpose of
      rousing game.

            To beat the woods, and rouse the bounding prey.
                                                  --Prior.

   4. To dash against, or strike, as with water or wind.

            A frozen continent . . . beat with perpetual storms.
                                                  --Milton.

   5. To tread, as a path.

            Pass awful gulfs, and beat my painful way.
                                                  --Blackmore.

   6. To overcome in a battle, contest, strife, race, game,
      etc.; to vanquish or conquer; to surpass.

            He beat them in a bloody battle.      --Prescott.

            For loveliness, it would be hard to beat that. --M.
                                                  Arnold.

   7. To cheat; to chouse; to swindle; to defraud; -- often with
      out. [Colloq.]

   8. To exercise severely; to perplex; to trouble.

            Why should any one . . . beat his head about the
            Latin grammar who does not intend to be a critic?
                                                  --Locke.

   9. (Mil.) To give the signal for, by beat of drum; to sound
      by beat of drum; as, to beat an alarm, a charge, a parley,
      a retreat; to beat the general, the reveille, the tattoo.
      See {Alarm}, {Charge}, {Parley}, etc.

   {To beat down}, to haggle with (any one) to secure a lower
      price; to force down. [Colloq.]

   {To beat into}, to teach or instill, by repetition.

   {To beat off}, to repel or drive back.

   {To beat out}, to extend by hammering.

   {To beat out of} a thing, to cause to relinquish it, or give
      it up. ``Nor can anything beat their posterity out of it
      to this day.'' --South.

   {To beat the dust}. (Man.)
      (a) To take in too little ground with the fore legs, as a
          horse.
      (b) To perform curvets too precipitately or too low.

   {To beat the hoof}, to walk; to go on foot.

   {To beat the wing}, to flutter; to move with fluttering
      agitation.

   {To beat time}, to measure or regulate time in music by the
      motion of the hand or foot.

   {To beat up}, to attack suddenly; to alarm or disturb; as, to
      beat up an enemy's quarters.

   Syn: To strike; pound; bang; buffet; maul; drub; thump;
        baste; thwack; thrash; pommel; cudgel; belabor; conquer;
        defeat; vanquish; overcome.

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.

Source : WordNet®

beaten
     adj 1: beaten repeatedly with heavy blows; "a battered child"; "the
            battered woman syndrome" [syn: {battered}]
     2: formed or made thin by hammering; "beaten gold"
     3: much trodden and worn smooth or bare; "did not stray from
        the beaten path" [syn: {beaten(a)}]

beat
     adj : very tired; "was all in at the end of the day"; "so beat I
           could flop down and go to sleep anywhere"; "bushed
           after all that exercise"; "I'm dead after that long
           trip" [syn: {all in(p)}, {beat(p)}, {bushed(p)}, {dead(p)}]
     [also: {beaten}]

beat
     n 1: a regular route for a sentry or policeman; "in the old days
          a policeman walked a beat and knew all his people by
          name" [syn: {round}]
     2: the rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with
        each beat of the heart; "he could feel the beat of her
        heart" [syn: {pulse}, {pulsation}, {heartbeat}]
     3: the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music; "the piece has
        a fast rhythm"; "the conductor set the beat" [syn: {rhythm},
         {musical rhythm}]
     4: a single pulsation of an oscillation produced by adding two
        waves of different frequencies; has a frequency equal to
        the difference between the two oscillations
     5: a member of the beat generation; a nonconformist in dress
        and behavior [syn: {beatnik}]
     6: the sound of stroke or blow; "he heard the beat of a drum"
     7: (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse [syn: {meter},
         {metre}, {measure}, {cadence}]
     8: a regular rate of repetition; "the cox raised the beat"
     9: a stroke or blow; "the signal was two beats on the steam
        pipe"
     10: the act of beating to windward; sailing as close as possible
         to the direction from which the wind is blowing
     [also: {beaten}]

beat
     v 1: 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" [syn: {beat out}, {crush}, {shell}, {trounce},
           {vanquish}]
     2: 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" [syn: {beat up}, {work
        over}]
     3: hit repeatedly; "beat on the door"; "beat the table with his
        shoe"
     4: move rhythmically; "Her heart was beating fast" [syn: {pound},
         {thump}]
     5: shape by beating; "beat swords into ploughshares"
     6: make a rhythmic sound; "Rain drummed against the
        windshield"; "The drums beat all night" [syn: {drum}, {thrum}]
     7: glare or strike with great intensity; "The sun was beating
        down on us"
     8: move with a thrashing motion; "The bird flapped its wings";
        "The eagle beat its wings and soared high into the sky"
        [syn: {flap}]
     9: sail with much tacking or with difficulty; "The boat beat in
        the strong wind"
     10: stir vigorously; "beat the egg whites"; "beat the cream"
         [syn: {scramble}]
     11: 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: be superior; "Reading beats watching television"; "This sure
         beats work!"
     13: avoid paying; "beat the subway fare" [syn: {bunk}]
     14: make a sound like a clock or a timer; "the clocks were
         ticking"; "the grandfather clock beat midnight" [syn: {tick},
          {ticktock}, {ticktack}]
     15: move with a flapping motion; "The bird's wings were
         flapping" [syn: {flap}]
     16: indicate by beating, as with the fingers or drumsticks;
         "Beat the rhythm"
     17: move with or as if with a regular alternating motion; "the
         city pulsated with music and excitement" [syn: {pulsate},
          {quiver}]
     18: make by pounding or trampling; "beat a path through the
         forest"
     19: produce a rhythm by striking repeatedly; "beat the drum"
     20: strike (water or bushes) repeatedly to rouse animals for
         hunting
     21: beat through cleverness and wit; "I beat the traffic"; "She
         outfoxed her competitors" [syn: {outwit}, {overreach}, {outsmart},
          {outfox}, {circumvent}]
     22: be a mystery or bewildering to; "This beats me!"; "Got me--I
         don't know the answer!"; "a vexing problem"; "This
         question really stuck me" [syn: {perplex}, {vex}, {stick},
          {get}, {puzzle}, {mystify}, {baffle}, {pose}, {bewilder},
          {flummox}, {stupefy}, {nonplus}, {gravel}, {amaze}, {dumbfound}]
     23: wear out completely; "This kind of work exhausts me"; "I'm
         beat"; "He was all washed up after the exam" [syn: {exhaust},
          {wash up}, {tucker}, {tucker out}]
     [also: {beaten}]

beaten
     See {beat}