to beat out
66
3.8
- phrasal verb
- /biːt aʊt/
- She worked hard and finally beat out her competitors to win the scholarship.
- beat out the competition
- beat out competitors
- beat out hopefuls
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Watch on YouTubeTrevor Berbick beat the fuck out of Muhammad Ali, right?
- Trevor Berbick beat the fuck out of Muhammad Ali, right?
- But by way of quick example, so democracy beat out the communism in the Soviet Union.
- You had a chance to beat out my other high yield savings account recommendation, which we'll talk about in a second.
- But Jon Jones beats the fuck out of people, right?
- But I submit you don't see Deckard endure a lot of pain in the scene where Leon beats the crap crap out of him.
Examples
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NELSON: We beat out the five other teams.
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Thank goodness Miguel Cabrera beat out Mike Trout for the American League MVP.
Blog text (18) -
Do you know how many candidates you beat out for your position?
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John beat you out for starting guard, Chad.
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Yeah, I beat out 70 other guys for this job.
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The U.S., Germany, and Ireland beat out Greece and Sweden for the three available Western spots.
Blog text (3) -
And we have examples where significant candidates on the left or the right have beat out a centrist candidate.
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Gabriella and I have had, like, five job interviews, but we keep getting beat out by college kids.
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So does London, which handily beat out NYC for this summer's Olympic bid.
Blog text (21) -
Amazingly Brave Wilderness is now the most watched digital wilderness channel, beating out legacy brands like National Geographic.
Synonyms
∞
1.4
To defeat another person or team in a contest
704
2.1
To beat someone in a game, fight, or contest
276
4.7
To defeat completely, often by force, ending a group or idea
109
3.4
Do better than others, for example at work or school
105
4.2
To defeat someone in a contest or game
99
7.2
Beat someone or something completely in a conflict
97
3.4
To remove someone or something from a competition by defeating them
45
3.2
To win all games or contests in a competition
21
8.6
To beat someone easily in a game or fight
18
7.5
To beat an opponent by a large amount in a game or contest
16
3.4
To score more points than an opponent in a game
14
4.2
Do better than and beat an opponent in a game
9
7.5
To beat someone completely in a game or contest
8
9.3
Beat someone badly in a game or fight
8
6.4
Do better than someone in skill or performance
4
4.6
To be much better than someone or something
3
7.7
Win easily by a lot against another person or team
2
4.2
To move or run faster than someone in a race
2
6.7
To gain more than someone else, especially in a competition
1
9.0
Hit someone many times until they are badly hurt
1
8.8
Beat someone by a lot
1
6.1
To do better than someone or something and win
1
7.4
To get an advantage over someone by doing better than them
1
6.7
To get more people or money than someone else
1
7.7
To beat someone completely in a game or fight
1
8.7
To beat someone by a large amount in a contest or game
1
9.2
Beat someone at the very last moment in a contest
1
7.9
Be better than someone or something in a competition
1
4.8
Run faster than another person in a race to finish ahead
1
6.2
To win against other teams or companies in a contest
To try to be better than someone in a contest or task
Defeat an opponent easily in a game or contest
Antonyms
How Decisive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The MWE meaning is directly built from the verb sense 'beat' (to strike repeatedly) together with the particle 'out', which does not introduce an unpredictable idiomatic sense here; the phrase simply denotes producing sound by striking. This is a straightforward compositional action + particle pattern found cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the pertinent sense of 'beat' will readily understand the expression.
Etymology
Beat out comes from images of contests and races where one person would beat another out of first place by overtaking them and leaving them behind. So it now means 'to defeat' someone, often by being a little better or faster.