How to Use beat in a Sentence

beat

1 of 2 verb
  • The rain beat on the roof.
  • The waves were beating the shore.
  • He beat the dust out of the rug with a stick.
  • The waves were beating on the shore.
  • He beat at the door with his fists.
  • She used a hammer to beat the nail into the wall.
  • They beat him with clubs.
  • She used a hammer to beat the metal into shape.
  • The dented metal was beaten flat.
  • The Tigers rallied to beat the Royals, 3-2, in the first of four games.
    Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press, 18 July 2023
  • Witt made the throw to first base, but Mountcastle beat the throw to the bag.
    Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 2 Apr. 2024
  • And Lorne started beating them up and pulling them back from the stage.
    Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 21 Mar. 2024
  • One of the toughest things in sports, we’re told, is to beat a team three times in a season.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Oct. 2023
  • The trick will be in beating the competition to the punch.
    Joel Khalili, WIRED, 21 Dec. 2023
  • This is the leg of lamb that serial mom beats someone to death with?
    Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2023
  • And to go into Cameron and beat Duke, which was probably the top team in the country?
    Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 13 Feb. 2024
  • The gunmen tried to beat down the door to the safe room before exiting the ship and making their way back to the shores of Yemen.
    Bradford Betz, Fox News, 27 Nov. 2023
  • Crawford fielded the ball behind the base and appeared to beat Marte to the bag but the runner was ruled safe.
    Michael Wagaman, ajc, 24 June 2023
  • But the vistas here, in the lushness of the Mark Twain National Forest, are sure hard to beat.
    Cora Hall, Kansas City Star, 30 Jan. 2024
  • Rangers beat Rays Prior to the injury Jung hit a three-run first-inning home run.
    Lawrence Dow, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Apr. 2024
  • With the Braves’ infield playing deep, Rojas dropped down a bunt to the right side in a 2-2 count, beating it out with ease.
    The Arizona Republic, 8 June 2023
  • Then, with the Colts deep in their own zone, Garrett beat two blocks to get to Minshew, forcing a strip sack in the end zone and the Browns pounced on it.
    Scott Thompson, Fox News, 22 Oct. 2023
  • Before that, however, the last time the top seeds met in the final game was 2017, when the Eagles beat New England.
    Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 19 Jan. 2024
  • Nothing beats the feeling of drifting off to sleep in a soft, cozy bed after a long day.
    Samantha Jones, Women's Health, 10 Aug. 2023
  • When big bass are defending against bluegills or dining on them in the shallows, this bug is tough to beat.
    Joe Cermele, Field & Stream, 22 June 2023
  • The highly danceable beat throughout the concert had people up in their seats and spilling out into the aisles.
    Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 9 Mar. 2024
  • When Crawford’s power took over the fight, Spence tried to engage in a brawl and was beaten badly.
    Calvin Watkins, Dallas News, 30 July 2023
  • The twins beat her to it, however, by jumping on the trend earlier in July with their dad.
    Bailey Richards, Peoplemag, 17 Sep. 2023
  • The Lions beat the Giants in the regular season, 31-18.
    Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press, 15 May 2023
  • Down to its final three outs, Moeller scored twice in the seventh inning to beat Toledo St. Francis, 6-5.
    Shelby Dermer, The Enquirer, 10 June 2023
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beat

2 of 2 noun
  • The first step is to choose a song that has 180 beats per minute.
    Laura Lancaster, Outdoor Life, 11 Apr. 2024
  • Along the coast of western Australia, the waves drummed a steady beat.
    Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 26 Feb. 2024
  • The players and coaches look around for a beat — then duck and run.
    Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 May 2023
  • The two have always marched to the beat of their own drum ... 12 Side by Side … or no drum at all.
    Sophie Dodd, Peoplemag, 31 May 2023
  • City life can chew you up, spit you out and never miss a beat.
    Courtland Milloy, Washington Post, 19 Dec. 2023
  • The sounds of a gushing river and the slow beat of a pahu drum lull me into a trance.
    Julia Eskins, Vogue, 22 June 2023
  • Lambert joined in on singing the chorus, and the pair rocked along while jumping up and down to the beat.
    Kimberlee Speakman, Peoplemag, 10 June 2023
  • There was some good police, there were some good cops on the beat, nice guys.
    Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2023
  • By midday, the rattle of Aztec anklets rang across the park along with the steady beat of drums.
    Austindedios, oregonlive, 10 Sep. 2023
  • Here Lies Love is ready to shake up Broadway — to a disco beat.
    Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 17 June 2023
  • Eeeek! Don't freak out — there are a couple of ways to remove any trace of your beat.
    Seventeen, 20 Apr. 2023
  • In his return to the lineup after a week away, Jung Hoo Lee didn’t look to have missed a beat.
    Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2024
  • The pop star and actor stepped out in Paris on September 27 with a beat that looked good enough to eat.
    Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 28 Sep. 2023
  • After getting the beat and intro in place, the next step was bringing in Nate.
    Ade Adeniji, SPIN, 20 Mar. 2024
  • The beat of that era has stayed with Melber, as longtime viewers know.
    Stephen Battaglio, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2023
  • To stage right, a handful of dancers on stilts, members of the Agua, Sol y Serano troupe, stepped to the beat of Latin jazz.
    Daniel Kool, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Sep. 2023
  • Her makeup was done by the legend Patrick Ta, who gave her a glowy blushing beat.
    Briannah Rivera, Seventeen, 11 May 2023
  • In the front of the banquet hall, the line morphs into a large circle that pulses along with the music as the girls jump up and down and clap to the beat of the drums.
    Hojun Choi, Dallas News, 14 Sep. 2023
  • The party had been going for more than four hours already, and no one seemed confused about how to dance to the beat.
    Kelefa Sanneh, The New Yorker, 14 July 2023
  • After the dancers finished, a trumpeter started playing to the beat of the music.
    Elise Taylor, Vogue, 18 Jan. 2024
  • Bauer was on the phone with lifeguards, the operator on the other line counting out the beats.
    Laylan Connelly, Orange County Register, 25 Feb. 2024
  • To keep a baby that will not be able to live outside the womb or has no heart beat should not be forced to carry for 9 months.
    Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 Feb. 2024
  • After a beat, rotate back through the opposite way, reaching up to the sky.
    Men's Health, 28 Apr. 2023
  • A lot of times, the beat pushes (rappers) in a certain direction.
    Journal Sentinel, 16 May 2023
  • But really, how much did Harlow pay Dahi and Boi-1da for these beats?
    Vulture, 28 Apr. 2023
  • With a tongue for wordplay and ear for beats drawn from hip-hop’s past, Ab-Soul is now focused on his own future.
    Chris Kelly, Washington Post, 21 June 2023
  • Along the route, that spirit followed with many attendees singing and walking to the beat of a drumline.
    José Sánchez Córdova, Dallas News, 19 June 2023
  • But despite the earnings beat, markets didn’t appear to welcome the news.
    Lionel Lim, Fortune Asia, 23 Feb. 2024
  • Now, Affleck burns beats onto a CD and attempts to record his own Dunkin’ jingle.
    EW.com, 13 Feb. 2024
  • Those beats also lend themselves to a propulsion as Chisholm progresses on the trail.
    Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 7 Mar. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'beat.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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