backbeat

noun

back·​beat ˈbak-ˌbēt 

: a steady pronounced rhythm stressing the second and fourth beats of a four-beat measure

Examples of backbeat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There’s no sound more evocative of summer than that of an old-school ice cream maker’s motor droning its monotonous naaaaaaaa with the backbeat of gas station ice and rock salt grinding and shifting against the spinning ice cream cannister. — Josh Miller, Southern Living, 31 May 2026

Point spreads and moneylines ran constantly through my head, mingling with the omnipresent Christmas carols to create a strange backbeat to the holiday season. — Mckay Coppins, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2026

In testing, the ominous backbeat drove the track, while the screeching riffs and vocals stood against it. — Will Greenwald, PC Magazine, 6 Mar. 2026

Working with longtime partner bassist Robbie Shakespeare (who died in 2021), Dunbar was one half of the dynamic duo that provided the thrumming backbeat to reggae classics from the likes of Black Uhuru, Peter Tosh, Burning Spear, Bunny Wailer, Gregory Isaacs and countless others. — Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 26 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1927, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for backbeat

• amit
• athlete
• backseat
• blackfeet
• broadsheet
• browbeat
• buckwheat
• compete
• compleat
• complete
• conceit
• concrete

Kids Definition

backbeat

noun

back·​beat -ˌbēt 

: a steady pronounced rhythm stressing the second and fourth beats of a four-beat measure