- beat at something
- beat at somethingto strike out at something. •
He beat at his attacker to no avail.
•Lily beat at the snake, but didn't harm it.
Dictionary of American idioms. 2013.
beat at something
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beat back something — beat back (something) to reduce the power or importance of something. People who experience a disaster have to beat back the fear and sadness all over again when another disaster strikes. Once again, health care reform has been beaten back in… … New idioms dictionary
beat someone/something off — REPEL, fight off, fend off, stave off, repulse, drive away/back, force back, beat back, push back, put to flight. → beat * * * succeed in resisting an attacker or an attack ■ win against a challenge or rival … Useful english dictionary
beat someone/something off — Syn: repel, fight off, fend off, stave off, repulse, drive away/back, push back … Synonyms and antonyms dictionary
beat back — (something) to reduce the power or importance of something. People who experience a disaster have to beat back the fear and sadness all over again when another disaster strikes. Once again, health care reform has been beaten back in Congress … New idioms dictionary
beat — beat1 W2S2 [bi:t] v past tense beat past participle beaten [ˈbi:tn] ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(competition/election)¦ 2¦(hit)¦ 3¦(hit against)¦ 4¦(do better)¦ 5¦(be better)¦ 6¦(food)¦ 7¦(control/deal with)¦ … Dictionary of contemporary English
beat out — verb 1. come out better in a competition, race, or conflict (Freq. 2) Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship We beat the competition Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game • Syn: ↑beat, ↑crush, ↑shell, ↑ … Useful english dictionary
beat down — verb 1. persuade the seller to accept a lower price She beat the merchant down $100 • Syn: ↑bargain down • Hypernyms: ↑haggle, ↑higgle, ↑chaffer, ↑huckster • Verb … Useful english dictionary
beat — 1. verb 1) Syn: hit, strike, batter, thump, bang, hammer, punch, knock, thrash, pound, pummel, slap, rain blows on, assault; informal wallop, belt, bash, whack, clout, clobber … Synonyms and antonyms dictionary
beat off phrasal — verb 1 (transitive beat someone/something off) to prevent someone who is trying to attack you, harm you, or compete against you: efforts to beat off our business rivals | We managed to beat off the dogs and run away. 2 (intransitive, transitive… … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
Beat — may refer to: * Battery (crime), contact on another person in a manner likely to cause bodily harm * Beating upMusic* Beat (music), a pulse of sound that marks the metre or rhythm of a piece of music * Beatmatching, the aligning of the tempos of… … Wikipedia
beat someone to it — To manage to do something before someone else can • • • Main Entry: ↑beat * * * beat someone to it phrase to do something before someone else When I went to take the keys I found that someone had beaten me to it. Thesaurus: to do something before … Useful english dictionary
