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Glite Dictionary
🏆 To defeat 🥁 To make a rhythm
to beat out

to beat out

2 3.6
Make a rhythm by hitting something repeatedly, like a drum
  • phrasal verb
  • /biːt aʊt/
translation icon : marcar
  • Ahl could still recognize the Great One, her tools in her hands, the hammer that beat out the heavens, the axe that chopped out the earth; but it wasn't easy.
  • beat out a rhythm
  • beat out a tattoo

My heart was beating out of my chest.

Examples

  • I remember sitting on top of a wardrobe in the Crescent in Belfast watching Shane MacGowan beat out a fast tempo with a biscuit tin lid on his head.

    Blog text (33)

  • Also, someone commented about creaming cold butter with an electric mixer, and I too ended up beating out the last butter pellets.

    Blog text (20)

  • Ryan headed for an overhead sign at the rear of the feed section that read, "PARTS AND REPAIRS," his dusty riding boots beating out an angry tattoo on the concrete floor.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The rubber soles of his running shoes beat out an ancient cursorial rhythm, a telling vibration transmitted through the deck to the perforated steel walls of the shark pen and then to the coral foundations of the station some twelve fathoms below.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • She stalked past screened porches, with her shoes beating out "Delia's Gone," asking where she'd been so long, saying her lover couldn't sleep, saying all around his bed at night he kept hearing little Delia's bare feet.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • The band was excited to beat out a lively tune that got everyone dancing.

  • As the conductor raised his baton, the orchestra began to beat out the opening notes of the symphony.

  • During the rehearsal, the drummer would beat out the tempo to help the musicians stay in sync.

Synonyms

to beat
vsto beat out
  • NSFW
∞ 1.2

To hit something or someone again and again, making a rhythm

is specifically about creating rhythm by repeated striking
to bang
vsto beat out
318 1.0

To hit or close something suddenly and loudly

is about repeated striking to create rhythm rather than a single loud hit
to pound
vsto beat out
225 1.3

To hit something again and again very hard

focuses on creating repeated rhythmic sound rather than forceful smashing
to drum
vsto beat out
18 1.3

To make a continuous rhythmic sound by hitting a surface

focuses on producing rhythm by striking, not only continuous sound
to beat on
vsto beat out
  • Informal
13 5.0

To keep going despite difficulty or to make a steady sound like rain on a roof

specifically means producing rhythm by striking repeatedly rather than general persistence
to rap
vsto beat out
8 3.7

To hit something quickly to make a short sharp sound

involves repeated striking to produce an ongoing rhythm rather than single hits
to bang away
vsto beat out
  • Informal
3 6.7

To hit something again and again with force, for example when playing an instrument

focuses on making rhythm rather than general energetic effort
to tap out
vsto beat out
1 4.4

To touch something lightly with fingers or an object to make a rhythm

means producing rhythm but with stronger strikes rather than light taps
to thump out
vsto beat out
1 7.0

To play a strong, repeated beat by hitting an instrument like a drum

refers to producing rhythm without implying forcefulness
to pound a beat
vsto beat out
  • Informal
1 7.7

Play a loud, strong rhythm on a drum or instrument

expresses producing rhythm without necessarily using forceful emphasis
to bang out
vsto beat out
  • Informal
1 7.8

To play music loudly and simply on an instrument

is about producing rhythm without implying loudness or roughness

Antonyms

to silence
169 3.5

To stop someone from speaking or making noise

to muffle
64 5.8

To make a sound or feeling quieter so it is less noticeable

How Loud

to pound
225 1.3
to beat out
2 3.6
to drum
18 1.3
tap
66 1.0

Surface Forms

beat out infinitive
beat out past
beat out past participle
beating out present participle
beats out third person singular

Morphology

beat + out

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 the simple picture of hitting a drum or table again and again so the sound goes 'out' to everyone nearby. So it means 'to produce a rhythm' by striking something repeatedly.