Hit vs. Beat — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on November 6, 2023
"Hit" refers to a single impact or success, whereas "Beat" implies repeated impacts or overcoming someone in a competition.
Difference Between Hit and Beat
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
"Hit" and "Beat" can be differentiated by their context of use and connotation. "Hit" often signifies a singular action, such as striking something or someone once, or achieving a point of success, as in a song becoming a hit. Conversely, "Beat" suggests a repeated action, like drumming a rhythm, or a sense of competition, as in beating an opponent in a game. Both words can imply force but differ in frequency and purpose.
In another context, "Hit" can indicate reaching a particular level or point, like hitting a target, while "Beat" can imply surpassing it, as in beating a record. This shows that "Hit" has a connotation of meeting a standard, whereas "Beat" carries the idea of exceeding or defeating. Both terms are used in various idiomatic expressions, where "Hit" generally means to suddenly understand something, and "Beat" can mean being exhausted.
When talking about physical contact, "Hit" refers to a single instance of contact, which could be accidental or deliberate. In contrast, "Beat" can suggest a series of hits, often with a purpose of punishment or aggression. In music, "Hit" describes a popular song, while "Beat" describes the rhythmic unit. Each word carries its own weight and implication in different scenarios.
In the realm of success, "Hit" can be used to describe a product or idea that has become extremely popular or successful suddenly. "Beat," on the other hand, is used to describe a situation where someone has outperformed others, such as beating the competition. In sports, to "Hit" can mean to successfully strike the ball, whereas to "Beat" can mean to outplay the opposition.
Lastly, "Hit" carries with it a sense of immediacy, something that is direct and possibly unexpected. For instance, a sudden realization is often described as 'it hit me'. "Beat," however, can carry a sense of endurance or continuity, such as a heart that beats. Both words have their own place in the English language, with distinct nuances that provide richness to verbal and written communication.
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Comparison Chart
Action
A single impact or success.
A series of impacts or victory in competition.
Frequency
Usually a one-time occurrence.
Implies repetition or continuity.
Connotation
Can imply success (like a chart-topping song) or a precise action (like hitting a target).
Often implies overcoming (like beating a record) or persistence (like a heartbeat).
Use in Music
Refers to a popular song or a precise strike in performance.
Refers to the rhythm or a pattern of sound in music.
In Sports
To make contact with (like hitting a ball).
To outperform or surpass an opponent or record.
Compare with Definitions
Hit
Strike with force.
She hit the punching bag with precision.
Beat
Surpass or do better than.
She beat the high score by a wide margin.
Hit
Achieve or reach.
The new video game hit the top of the sales charts.
Beat
To stir vigorously.
Beat the eggs until they are fluffy.
Hit
Affect suddenly and strongly.
The realization hit him mid-conversation.
Beat
A main accent or rhythmic unit in music or poetry.
The musician tapped his foot to the beat.
Hit
To come into contact with forcefully; strike
The car hit the guardrail.
Beat
To strike repeatedly.
Hit
To cause to come into contact
She hit her hand against the wall.
Beat
To subject to repeated beatings or physical abuse; batter.
Hit
To deal a blow to
He hit the punching bag.
Beat
To punish by hitting or whipping; flog.
Hit
To cause an implement or missile to come forcefully into contact with
Hit the nail with a hammer.
Beat
To strike against repeatedly and with force; pound
Waves beating the shore.
Hit
To press or push (a key or button, for example)
Hit the return key by mistake.
Beat
To flap (wings, for example).
Hit
To reach with a propelled ball or puck
Hit the running back with a pass.
Beat
To strike so as to produce music or a signal
Beat a drum.
Hit
To score in this way
She hit the winning basket.
Beat
(Music) To mark or count (time or rhythm), especially with the hands or with a baton.
Hit
To perform (a shot or maneuver) successfully
Couldn't hit the jump shot.
Beat
To shape or break by repeated blows; forge
Beat the glowing metal into a dagger.
Hit
To propel with a stroke or blow
Hit the ball onto the green.
Beat
To make by pounding or trampling
Beat a path through the jungle.
Hit
To execute (a base hit) successfully
Hit a single.
Beat
To mix rapidly with a utensil
Beat two eggs in a bowl.
Hit
To bat against (a pitcher or kind of pitch) successfully
Can't hit a slider.
Beat
To defeat or subdue, as in a contest.
Hit
To affect, especially adversely
The company was hit hard by the recession. Influenza hit the elderly the hardest.
Beat
To force to withdraw or retreat
Beat back the enemy.
Hit
To be affected by (a negative development)
Their marriage hit a bad patch.
Beat
To dislodge from a position
I beat him down to a lower price.
Hit
To win (a prize, for example), especially in a lottery.
Beat
(Informal) To be superior to or better than
Riding beats walking.
Hit
To arise suddenly in the mind of; occur to
It finally hit him that she might be his long-lost sister.
Beat
(Slang) To perplex or baffle
It beats me.
I don't know the answer.
Hit
(Informal) To go to or arrive at
We hit the beach early.
Beat
To avoid or counter the effects of, often by thinking ahead; circumvent
Beat the traffic.
Hit
(Informal) To attain or reach
Monthly sales hit a new high. She hit 40 on her last birthday.
Beat
To arrive or finish before (another)
We beat you home by five minutes.
Hit
To produce or represent accurately
Trying to hit the right note.
Beat
To deprive, as by craft or ability
He beat me out of 20 dollars with his latest scheme.
Hit
(Games) To deal cards to.
Beat
(Physics) To cause a reference wave to combine with (a second wave) so that the frequency of the second wave can be studied through time variations in the amplitude of the combination.
Hit
(Sports) To bite on or take (bait or a lure). Used of a fish.
Beat
To inflict repeated blows.
Hit
To strike or deal a blow.
Beat
To pulsate; throb.
Hit
To come into contact with something; collide.
Beat
To emit sound when struck
The gong beat thunderously.
Hit
To attack
The raiders hit at dawn.
Beat
To strike a drum.
Hit
To happen or occur
The storm hit without warning.
Beat
To flap repeatedly.
Hit
To achieve or find something desired or sought
Finally hit on the answer.
Hit upon a solution to the problem.
Beat
To shine or glare intensely
The sun beat down on us all day.
Hit
(Baseball) To bat or bat well
Their slugger hasn't been hitting lately.
Beat
To fall in torrents
The rain beat on the roof.
Hit
(Sports) To score by shooting, especially in basketball
Hit on 7 of 8 shots.
Beat
To hunt through woods or underbrush in search of game.
Hit
To ignite a mixture of air and fuel in the cylinders. Used of an internal-combustion engine.
Beat
(Nautical) To sail upwind by tacking repeatedly.
Hit
A collision or impact.
Beat
A stroke or blow, especially one that produces a sound or serves as a signal.
Hit
A successfully executed shot, blow, thrust, or throw.
Beat
A pulsation or throb.
Hit
(Sports) A deliberate collision with an opponent, such as a body check in ice hockey.
Beat
(Physics) A variation in the amplitude of a wave, especially that which results from the superpositioning of two or more waves of different frequencies. When sound waves are combined, the beat is heard as a pulsation in the sound.
Hit
A successful or popular venture
A Broadway hit.
Beat
A steady succession of units of rhythm.
Hit
A match of data in a search string against data that one is searching.
Beat
A gesture used by a conductor to indicate such a unit.
Hit
A connection made to a website over the internet or another network
Our company's website gets about 250,000 hits daily.
Beat
A pattern of stress that produces the rhythm of verse.
Hit
An apt or effective remark.
Beat
A variable unit of time measuring a pause taken by an actor, as for dramatic effect.
Hit
Abbr. H(Baseball) A base hit.
Beat
The area regularly covered by a reporter, a police officer, or a sentry
Television's culture beat.
Hit
A dose of a narcotic drug.
Beat
The reporting of a news item obtained ahead of one's competitors.
Hit
A puff of a cigarette or a pipe.
Beat
Often Beat A member of the Beat Generation.
Hit
(Slang) A murder planned and carried out usually by a member of an underworld syndicate.
Beat
(Informal) Worn-out; fatigued.
Hit
To strike.
Beat
Often Beat Of or relating to the Beat Generation.
Hit
(transitive) To administer a blow to, directly or with a weapon or missile.
One boy hit the other.
Beat
A stroke; a blow.
Hit
(transitive) To come into contact with forcefully and suddenly.
The ball hit the fence.
Beat
A pulsation or throb.
A beat of the heart
The beat of the pulse
Hit
(intransitive) To strike against something.
Beat
(music) A pulse on the beat level, the metric level at which pulses are heard as the basic unit. Thus a beat is the basic time unit of a piece.
Hit
(transitive) To activate a button or key by pressing and releasing it.
Hit the Enter key to continue.
Beat
A rhythm.
I love watching her dance to a pretty drum beat with a bouncy rhythm!
Hit
To kill a person, usually on the instructions of a third party.
Hit him tonight and throw the body in the river.
Beat
(music) The rhythm signalled by a conductor or other musician to the members of a group of musicians.
Hit
To attack, especially amphibiously.
If intelligence had been what it should have been, I don't think we'd ever have hit that island.
Beat
The instrumental portion of a piece of hip-hop music.
Hit
To affect someone, as if dealing a blow to that person.
Their coffee really hits the spot.
I used to listen to that song all the time, but it hits different(ly) now.
Beat
The interference between two tones of almost equal frequency
Hit
To manage to touch (a target) in the right place.
I hit the jackpot.
Beat
(authorship) A short pause in a play, screenplay, or teleplay, for dramatic or comedic effect.
Hit
To switch on.
Somebody's been here! Hit the lights!
Beat
(by extension) An area of a person's responsibility, especially
Hit
To briefly visit.
We hit the grocery store on the way to the park.
Beat
The route patrolled by a police officer or a guard.
To walk the beat
Hit
To encounter an obstacle or other difficulty.
We hit a lot of traffic coming back from the movies.
Beat
(journalism) The primary focus of a reporter's stories (such as police/courts, education, city government, business etc.).
Hit
(heading) To attain, to achieve.
Beat
(dated) An act of reporting news or scientific results before a rival; a scoop.
Hit
To reach or achieve.
The movie hits theaters in December.
The temperature could hit 110°F tomorrow.
We hit Detroit at one in the morning but kept driving through the night.
Beat
That which beats, or surpasses, another or others.
The beat of him
Hit
(intransitive) To meet or reach what was aimed at or desired; to succeed, often by luck.
Beat
A precinct.
Hit
To guess; to light upon or discover.
Beat
(dated) A place of habitual or frequent resort.
Hit
(transitive) To affect negatively.
The economy was hit by a recession.
The hurricane hit his fishing business hard.
Beat
(AU) An area frequented by gay men in search of sexual activity. See gay beat.
Hit
(metaphorically) To attack.
Beat
(archaic) A low cheat or swindler.
A dead beat
Hit
To make a play.
Beat
(hunting) The act of scouring, or ranging over, a tract of land to rouse or drive out game; also, those so engaged, collectively.
Hit
In blackjack, to deal a card to.
Hit me.
Beat
(fencing) A smart tap on the adversary's blade.
Hit
To come up to bat.
Jones hit for the pitcher.
Beat
(slang) A makeup look; compare beat one's face.
Hit
(backgammon) To take up, or replace by a piece belonging to the opposing player; said of a single unprotected piece on a point.
Beat
A beatnik.
Hit
To use; to connect to.
The external web servers hit DBSRV7, but the internal web server hits DBSRV3.
Beat
(transitive) To hit; to strike.
As soon as she heard that her father had died, she went into a rage and beat the wall with her fists until her knuckles bled.
Hit
To have sex with.
I'd hit that!
Beat
(transitive) To strike or pound repeatedly, usually in some sort of rhythm.
He danced hypnotically while she beat the atabaque.
Hit
To inhale an amount of smoke from a narcotic substance, particularly marijuana.
Beat
(intransitive) To strike repeatedly; to inflict repeated blows; to knock vigorously or loudly.
Hit
(of an exercise) to affect, to work a body part.
This is another great exercise which hits the long head.
Beat
(intransitive) To move with pulsation or throbbing.
Hit
To work out
With that said, the group hitting their legs just once a week still made gains.
Beat
(transitive) To win against; to defeat or overcome; to do or be better than (someone); to excel in a particular, competitive event.
Jan had little trouble beating John in tennis. He lost five games in a row.
No matter how quickly Joe finished his test, Roger always beat him.
I just can't seem to beat the last level of this video game.
Hit
A blow; a punch; a striking against; the collision of one body against another; the stroke that touches anything.
The hit was very slight.
Beat
To sail to windward using a series of alternate tacks across the wind.
Hit
Something very successful, such as a song, film, or video game, that receives widespread recognition and acclaim.
Beat
(transitive) To strike (water, foliage etc.) in order to drive out game; to travel through (a forest etc.) for hunting.
Hit
An attack on a location, person or people.
Beat
To mix food in a rapid fashion. Compare whip.
Beat the eggs and whip the cream.
Hit
A collision of a projectile with the target.
Beat
To persuade the seller to reduce a price.
He wanted $50 for it, but I managed to beat him down to $35.
Hit
In the game of Battleship, a correct guess at where one's opponent ship is.
Beat
(transitive) To indicate by beating or drumming.
To beat a retreat; to beat to quarters
Hit
A match found by searching a computer system or search engine
Beat
To tread, as a path.
Hit
(Internet) A measured visit to a web site, a request for a single file from a web server.
My site received twice as many hits after being listed in a search engine.
Beat
To exercise severely; to perplex; to trouble.
Hit
An approximately correct answer in a test set.
Beat
To be in agitation or doubt.
Hit
(baseball) The complete play, when the batter reaches base without the benefit of a walk, error, or fielder’s choice.
The catcher got a hit to lead off the fifth.
Beat
To make a sound when struck.
The drums beat.
Hit
(colloquial) A dose of an illegal or addictive drug.
Where am I going to get my next hit?
Beat
To make a succession of strokes on a drum.
The drummers beat to call soldiers to their quarters.
Hit
A premeditated murder done for criminal or political purposes.
Beat
To sound with more or less rapid alternations of greater and lesser intensity, so as to produce a pulsating effect; said of instruments, tones, or vibrations not perfectly in unison.
Hit
(dated) A peculiarly apt expression or turn of thought; a phrase which hits the mark.
A happy hit
Beat
(transitive) To arrive at a place before someone.
He beat me there.
The place is empty, we beat the crowd of people who come at lunch.
Hit
(backgammon) A move that throws one of the opponent's men back to the entering point.
Beat
To have sexual intercourse.
Bruv, she came in just as we started to beat.
Hit
(backgammon) A game won after the adversary has removed some of his men. It counts for less than a gammon.
Beat
To rob.
He beat me out of 12 bucks last night.
Hit
Very successful.
The band played their hit song to the delight of the fans.
Beat
Inflection of [[:en:#Etymology_1
Hit
(dialectal) It.
Beat
Inflection of [[:en:#Etymology_1
Hit
It.
Beat
Exhausted.
After the long day, she was feeling completely beat.
Hit
To reach with a stroke or blow; to strike or touch, usually with force; especially, to reach or touch (an object aimed at).
I think you have hit the mark.
Beat
Dilapidated, beat up.
Dude, you drive a beat car like that and you ain’t gonna get no honeys.
Hit
To reach or attain exactly; to meet according to the occasion; to perform successfully; to attain to; to accord with; to be conformable to; to suit.
Birds learning tunes, and their endeavors to hit the notes right.
There you hit him; . . . that argument never fails with him.
Whose saintly visage is too brightTo hit the sense of human sight.
He scarcely hit my humor.
Beat
Having impressively attractive makeup.
Her face was beat for the gods!
Hit
To guess; to light upon or discover.
Beat
(slang) Boring.
Hit
To take up, or replace by a piece belonging to the opposing player; - said of a single unprotected piece on a point.
Beat
Ugly.
Hit
To meet or come in contact; to strike; to clash; - followed by against or on.
If bodies be extension alone, how can they move and hit one against another?
Corpuscles, meeting with or hitting on those bodies, become conjoined with them.
Beat
Relating to the Beat Generation.
Beat poetry
Hit
To meet or reach what was aimed at or desired; to succeed, - often with implied chance, or luck.
And oft it hitsWhere hope is coldest and despair most fits.
And millions miss for one that hits.
Beat
To strike repeatedly; to lay repeated blows upon; as, to beat one's breast; to beat iron so as to shape it; to beat grain, in order to force out the seeds; to beat eggs and sugar; to beat a drum.
Thou shalt beat some of it [spices] very small.
They did beat the gold into thin plates.
Hit
A striking against; the collision of one body against another; the stroke that touches anything.
So he the famed Cilician fencer praised,And, at each hit, with wonder seems amazed.
Beat
To punish by blows; to thrash.
Hit
A stroke of success in an enterprise, as by a fortunate chance; as, he made a hit;
What late he called a blessing, now was wit,And God's good providence, a lucky hit.
Beat
To scour or range over in hunting, accompanied with the noise made by striking bushes, etc., for the purpose of rousing game.
To beat the woods, and rouse the bounding prey.
Hit
A peculiarly apt expression or turn of thought; a phrase which hits the mark; as, a happy hit.
Beat
To dash against, or strike, as with water or wind.
A frozen continent . . . beat with perpetual storms.
Hit
A game won at backgammon after the adversary has removed some of his men. It counts less than a gammon.
Beat
To tread, as a path.
Pass awful gulfs, and beat my painful way.
Hit
A striking of the ball; as, a safe hit; a foul hit; - sometimes used specifically for a base hit.
Beat
To overcome in a battle, contest, strife, race, game, etc.; to vanquish, defeat, or conquer; to surpass or be superior to.
He beat them in a bloody battle.
For loveliness, it would be hard to beat that.
Hit
An act of murder performed for hire, esp. by a professional assassin.
Beat
To cheat; to chouse; to swindle; to defraud; - often with out.
Hit
(baseball) a successful stroke in an athletic contest (especially in baseball);
He came all the way around on Williams' hit
Beat
To exercise severely; to perplex; to trouble.
Why should any one . . . beat his head about the Latin grammar who does not intend to be a critic?
Hit
The act of contacting one thing with another;
Repeated hitting raised a large bruise
After three misses she finally got a hit
Beat
To give the signal for, by beat of drum; to sound by beat of drum; as, to beat an alarm, a charge, a parley, a retreat; to beat the general, the reveille, the tattoo. See Alarm, Charge, Parley, etc.
Hit
A conspicuous success;
That song was his first hit and marked the beginning of his career
That new Broadway show is a real smasher
The party went with a bang
Beat
To baffle or stump; to defy the comprehension of (a person); as, it beats me why he would do that.
Hit
(physics) an brief event in which two or more bodies come together;
The collision of the particles resulted in an exchange of energy and a change of direction
Beat
To evade, avoid, or escape (blame, taxes, punishment); as, to beat the rap (be acquitted); to beat the sales tax by buying out of state.
Hit
A dose of a narcotic drug
Beat
To strike repeatedly; to inflict repeated blows; to knock vigorously or loudly.
The men of the city . . . beat at the door.
Hit
A murder carried out by an underworld syndicate;
It has all the earmarks of a Mafia hit
Beat
To move with pulsation or throbbing.
A thousand hearts beat happily.
Hit
A connection made via the internet to another website;
WordNet gets many hits from users worldwide
Beat
To come or act with violence; to dash or fall with force; to strike anything, as rain, wind, and waves do.
Sees rolling tempests vainly beat below.
They [winds] beat at the crazy casement.
The sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die.
Public envy seemeth to beat chiefly upon ministers.
Hit
Cause to move by striking;
Hit a ball
Beat
To be in agitation or doubt.
To still my beating mind.
Hit
Hit against; come into sudden contact with;
The car hit a tree
He struck the table with his elbow
Beat
To make progress against the wind, by sailing in a zigzag line or traverse.
Hit
Affect or afflict suddenly, usually adversely;
We were hit by really bad weather
He was stricken with cancer when he was still a teenager
The earthquake struck at midnight
Beat
To make a sound when struck; as, the drums beat.
Hit
Deal a blow to, either with the hand or with an instrument;
He hit her hard in the face
Beat
To make a succession of strokes on a drum; as, the drummers beat to call soldiers to their quarters.
Hit
Reach a destination, either real or abstract;
We hit Detroit by noon
The water reached the doorstep
We barely made it to the finish line
I have to hit the MAC machine before the weekend starts
Beat
To sound with more or less rapid alternations of greater and less intensity, so as to produce a pulsating effect; - said of instruments, tones, or vibrations, not perfectly in unison.
Hit
Reach a point in time, or a certain state or level;
The thermometer hit 100 degrees
This car can reach a speed of 140 miles per hour
Beat
A stroke; a blow.
He, with a careless beat,Struck out the mute creation at a heat.
Hit
Hit with a missile from a weapon
Beat
A recurring stroke; a throb; a pulsation; as, a beat of the heart; the beat of the pulse.
Hit
Cause to experience suddenly;
Panic struck me
An interesting idea hit her
A thought came to me
The thought struck terror in our minds
They were struck with fear
Beat
The rise or fall of the hand or foot, marking the divisions of time; a division of the measure so marked. In the rhythm of music the beat is the unit.
Hit
Make a strategic, offensive, assault against an enemy, opponent, or a target;
The Germans struck Poland on Sept. 1, 1939
We must strike the enemy's oil fields
In the fifth inning, the Giants struck, sending three runners home to win the game 5 to 2
Beat
A round or course which is frequently gone over; as, a watchman's beat; analogously, for newspaper reporters, the subject or territory that they are assigned to cover; as, the Washington beat.
Hit
Hit the intended target or goal
Beat
A place of habitual or frequent resort.
Hit
Produce by manipulating keys or strings of musical instruments, also metaphorically;
The pianist strikes a middle C
Strike `z' on the keyboard
Her comments struck a sour note
Beat
A cheat or swindler of the lowest grade; - often emphasized by dead; as, a dead beat; also, deadbeat.
Hit
Encounter by chance;
I stumbled across a long-lost cousin last night in a restaurant
Beat
One that beats, or surpasses, another or others; as, the beat of him.
Hit
Gain points in a game;
The home team scored many times
He hit a home run
He hit .300 in the past season
Beat
The act of one that beats a person or thing
It's a beat on the whole country.
Hit
Consume to excess;
Hit the bottle
Beat
The act of scouring, or ranging over, a tract of land to rouse or drive out game; also, those so engaged, collectively.
Bears coming out of holes in the rocks at the last moment, when the beat is close to them.
Hit
Kill intentionally and with premeditation;
The mafia boss ordered his enemies murdered
Beat
A smart tap on the adversary's blade.
Hit
Drive something violently into a location;
He hit his fist on the table
She struck her head on the low ceiling
Beat
Weary; tired; fatigued; exhausted.
Quite beat, and very much vexed and disappointed.
Hit
Pay unsolicited and usually unwanted sexual attention to;
He tries to hit on women in bars
Beat
A regular route for a sentry or policeman;
In the old days a policeman walked a beat and knew all his people by name
Hit
A successful venture.
Their first album was a hit.
Beat
The rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart;
He could feel the beat of her heart
Hit
A dose of illicit drug.
He took a hit from the makeshift pipe.
Beat
The basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music;
The piece has a fast rhythm
The conductor set the beat
Beat
A single pulsation of an oscillation produced by adding two waves of different frequencies; has a frequency equal to the difference between the two oscillations
Beat
A member of the beat generation; a nonconformist in dress and behavior
Beat
The sound of stroke or blow;
He heard the beat of a drum
Beat
(prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse
Beat
A regular rate of repetition;
The cox raised the beat
Beat
A stroke or blow;
The signal was two beats on the steam pipe
Beat
The act of beating to windward; sailing as close as possible to the direction from which the wind is blowing
Beat
Come out better in a competition, race, or conflict;
Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship
We beat the competition
Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game
Beat
Give a beating to; subject to a beating, either as a punishment or as an act of aggression;
Thugs beat him up when he walked down the street late at night
The teacher used to beat the students
Beat
Hit repeatedly;
Beat on the door
Beat the table with his shoe
Beat
Move rhythmically;
Her heart was beating fast
Beat
Shape by beating;
Beat swords into ploughshares
Beat
Make a rhythmic sound;
Rain drummed against the windshield
The drums beat all night
Beat
Glare or strike with great intensity;
The sun was beating down on us
Beat
Move with a thrashing motion;
The bird flapped its wings
The eagle beat its wings and soared high into the sky
Beat
Sail with much tacking or with difficulty;
The boat beat in the strong wind
Beat
Stir vigorously;
Beat the egg whites
Beat the cream
Beat
Strike (a part of one's own body) repeatedly, as in great emotion or in accompaniment to music;
Beat one's breast
Beat one's foot rhythmically
Beat
Be superior;
Reading beats watching television
This sure beats work!
Beat
Avoid paying;
Beat the subway fare
Beat
Make a sound like a clock or a timer;
The clocks were ticking
The grandfather clock beat midnight
Beat
Move with a flapping motion;
The bird's wings were flapping
Beat
Indicate by beating, as with the fingers or drumsticks;
Beat the rhythm
Beat
Move with or as if with a regular alternating motion;
The city pulsated with music and excitement
Beat
Make by pounding or trampling;
Beat a path through the forest
Beat
Produce a rhythm by striking repeatedly;
Beat the drum
Beat
Strike (water or bushes) repeatedly to rouse animals for hunting
Beat
Beat through cleverness and wit;
I beat the traffic
She outfoxed her competitors
Beat
Be a mystery or bewildering to;
This beats me!
Got me--I don't know the answer!
A vexing problem
This question really stuck me
Beat
Wear out completely;
This kind of work exhausts me
I'm beat
He was all washed up after the exam
Beat
Very tired;
Was all in at the end of the day
So beat I could flop down and go to sleep anywhere
Bushed after all that exercise
I'm dead after that long trip
Beat
To be thoroughly fatigued.
After the long hike, he was completely beat.
Common Curiosities
Is "hit" only used in a violent context?
No, "hit" can refer to success or reaching a point, not just physical impact.
Does "beat" always mean to win against someone?
While "beat" often means to win, it can also refer to a rhythm or to mix vigorously.
Can objects "hit" as well as people?
Yes, objects can "hit" targets or reach points, such as a light beam hitting a surface.
Can "beat" refer to something other than physical action?
Yes, "beat" can refer to a rhythm in music or feeling exhausted.
What does "beat around the bush" mean?
It means to avoid getting to the point or to avoid discussing a topic directly.
How is "beat" used in cooking?
"Beat" is used to describe the action of mixing ingredients rapidly to incorporate air.
How is "hit" used in sports?
"Hit" can refer to striking a ball or making contact in sports like baseball or golf.
What does "hit the books" mean?
It's an idiom meaning to begin studying, usually with intensity.
Can "hit" and "beat" be used interchangeably?
No, they cannot. "Hit" refers to a single impact, while "beat" implies repeated actions or overcoming someone.
What does it mean to "hit home"?
"Hit home" means to cause someone to fully realize something, often with emotional impact.
Does "beat" imply a negative connotation?
Not necessarily. "Beat" can have a positive connotation, such as in "beat the odds."
Can "hit" be a noun?
Yes, "hit" can be a noun, signifying a successful product or a dose of a drug.
What does it mean to "beat the clock"?
It means to finish something within a time limit or before a deadline.
Is "hit" always physical?
No, "hit" can be metaphorical, such as a piece of news that hits, meaning it has a strong effect.
Can "beat" be a noun?
Yes, "beat" can be a noun referring to the rhythmic pulse in music or a regular route for a police officer.
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Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
