From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Beat \Beat\ (b[=e]t), 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[=o]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.
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Thou shalt beat some of it [spices] very small.
--Ex. xxx. 36.
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They did beat the gold into thin plates. --Ex.
xxxix. 3.
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2. To punish by blows; to thrash.
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3. To scour or range over in hunting, accompanied with the
noise made by striking bushes, etc., for the purpose of
rousing game.
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To beat the woods, and rouse the bounding prey.
--Prior.
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4. To dash against, or strike, as with water or wind.
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A frozen continent . . . beat with perpetual storms.
--Milton.
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5. To tread, as a path.
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Pass awful gulfs, and beat my painful way.
--Blackmore.
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6. To overcome in a battle, contest, strife, race, game,
etc.; to vanquish, defeat, or conquer; to surpass or be
superior to.
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He beat them in a bloody battle. --Prescott.
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For loveliness, it would be hard to beat that. --M.
Arnold.
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7. To cheat; to chouse; to swindle; to defraud; -- often with
out. [Colloq.]
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8. To exercise severely; to perplex; to trouble.
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Why should any one . . . beat his head about the
Latin grammar who does not intend to be a critic?
--Locke.
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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.
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10. to baffle or stump; to defy the comprehension of (a
person); as, it beats me why he would do that.
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11. to evade, avoid, or escape (blame, taxes, punishment);
as, to beat the rap (be acquitted); to beat the sales tax
by buying out of state.
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{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.
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Syn: To strike; pound; bang; buffet; maul; drub; thump;
baste; thwack; thrash; pommel; cudgel; belabor; conquer;
defeat; vanquish; overcome.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Beaten \Beat"en\ (b[=e]t"'n; 95), a.
1. Made smooth by beating or treading; worn by use. "A broad
and beaten way." --Milton. "Beaten gold." --Shak. "off the
beaten track."
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2. Vanquished; defeated; conquered; baffled.
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3. Exhausted; tired out.
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4. Become common or trite; as, a beaten phrase. [Obs.]
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5. Tried; practiced. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl.
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
beaten
adj 1: formed or made thin by hammering; "beaten gold"
2: much trodden and worn smooth or bare; "did not stray from the
beaten path"
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