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Glite Dictionary
to beat in

to beat in

1 7.2
To train someone by repeating something until they learn it
  • phrasal verb
  • /biːt ɪn/
  • Informal
translation icon : inculcar
  • beat in eggs
  • beat in sugar
  • beat in flour

Examples

  • In the Palestinian case, researcher Sara Roy reported in 1995 that violence had been widely used by teachers in Gaza trying to regain their authority in the classroom since the advent of the PNA there, with some 87 percent of children claiming to have been beaten in school.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The teacher beats in the important concepts every day to help the students remember them.

  • To master the piano, she knew she had to beat in the scales through regular practice.

  • The coach will beat in the strategies during each training session to improve the team's performance.

Synonyms

to drill in
vsto beat in
2 3.9

To make someone remember something by repeating it many times

is broader, aiming to instil habits, discipline, or knowledge
to ram down
vsto beat in
  • Informal
1 7.9

To force ideas or rules on someone by repeating them against their will

is about repeated training but not necessarily coercive or unwanted
to hammer in
vsto beat in
  • Informal
1 4.6

Repeat something many times so a person remembers it

uses repeated training but with less emphasis on force
to drill (someone)
vsto beat in
3.9

Make someone practice a skill again and again to improve it

focuses more on creating habits and discipline through repeated training

Antonyms

neglect
100 3.5

Not caring for someone or something that needs care

How Trained

to beat in
  • Informal
1 7.2
drill
257 3.4
to train
442 1.0
to teach
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

beat + in

The meaning is partially derivable from 'beat' (repeated striking) + 'in' (into), which suggests forcing or instilling something into someone, so a learner could infer a coercive sense. However, the training/disciplining meaning is a metaphoric extension rather than a literal composition and the precise sense (drill/instil habits) may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner without prior exposure, making it only partially transparent.

Etymology

Beat in: The phrasal verb beat in comes from the image of beat and in, like hitting a nail until it goes into wood. So, to beat in something means 'to train someone by repeating or practising something until they learn it'.