to beat
- verb
- /biːt/
- NSFW
- The team will beat the bushes to scare the rabbits out of their hiding places.
Examples
-
The border was marked by a crude fence of barbed wire and a path beaten out by military patrols.
Fiction book (1998) -
It's like, man, people are beating a path to they're waiting outside of our stores at midnight to get an iPhone that is white.
-
I was gonna beat a path for myself to get out of there.
Academic text (2005) -
Yes, I did see some men beating the undergrowth.
-
The refugee-resettlement office placed them in San Diego, but before long they, too, beat a path to Minnesota.
Academic text (2017) -
As we walked through the tall grass, we had to beat it to flush out any hidden animals.
-
The search party decided to beat the area thoroughly to ensure no one was left behind.
Synonyms
To force someone or something to move away
Make animals or people who attack you go away
Idioms
- Offensive
Hit someone many times until they are badly hurt or win against them very clearly
- Informal
To feel your heart stop for a moment because you are suddenly excited or scared
- Informal
Push away a lot of people or fans as a joke about being too popular
- Literature
To change weapons into tools for peaceful work like farming
Phrasal Verbs
- Offensive
To hurt or defeat someone very badly, often by hitting them
- Informal
To keep going despite difficulty or to make a steady sound like rain on a roof
- Offensive
To defeat someone completely, often physically or in a game, used in rude speech
Compounds
- NSFW
A group of American writers and artists from the 1950s who reject social rules and choose free creative lives
- Archaic
A style of pop rock from 1960s Britain with strong rhythms and simple melodies
How Forceful
Surface Forms
Etymology
To beat a path means to make it by walking or trampling the ground again and again, from the idea of striking or pressing the earth. So you 'beat' a trail when you walk it many times until a clear path forms.