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.

Beating \Beat"ing\, n.
   1. The act of striking or giving blows; punishment or
      chastisement by blows.

   2. Pulsation; throbbing; as, the beating of the heart.

   3. (Acoustics & Mus.) Pulsative sounds. See {Beat}, n.

   4. (Naut.) The process of sailing against the wind by tacks
      in zigzag direction.

Source : WordNet®

beating
     adj : expanding and contracting rhythmically as to the beating of
           the heart; "felt the pulsating artery"; "oh my beating
           heart" [syn: {pulsating}, {pulsing}]
     n 1: the act of overcoming or outdoing [syn: {whipping}]
     2: the act of inflicting corporal punishment with repeated
        blows [syn: {thrashing}, {licking}, {drubbing}, {lacing},
        {trouncing}, {whacking}]