beep

1 of 2

verb

ˈbēp 

beeped; beeping; beeps

transitive verb

1

: to cause to sound

beep a horn

2

: to send a message to (someone) with a beeper

Dr. Khoury was beeped to perform an emergency operation at American University Hospital.

—Scot Macleod

intransitive verb

1

: to sound a horn

2

: to make a beep

beep

2 of 2

noun

: a short usually high-pitched sound (as from a horn or an electronic device) that serves as a signal or warning

Examples of beep in a Sentence

Verb

Why did you beep your horn at her?

She beeped at me first.

Something is beeping in the kitchen.

I could hear a beeping noise.

Noun

the beep of a car horn

Please leave a message after the beep.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

The air is thick with the smell of exhaust fumes and the noise of radios, people’s chatter and moto taxis beeping their horns. —Sarah Dean, CNN Money, 22 Sep. 2025

Doris Conklin, hooked to beeping monitors, longed to watch her son graduate from high school. —Ishani Desai, Sacbee.com, 18 Sep. 2025

Noun

And instead of Mulder talking about his fond memories playing for the A’s in Oakland, a loud and repeating beep echoed through the public address system. —Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 14 Sep. 2025

These minor issues can be worked around in the emulated Cat's setup menu by setting the problem signal to Flash (without a beep) and the keyboard to ASCII. —Cameron Kaiser, ArsTechnica, 12 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Verb

from beep-beep, imitative of the sound of a horn, or verbal derivative of beep entry 2

Noun

earlier beep-beep, imitative of the sound of a horn

First Known Use

Verb

1933, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun

1943, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for beep

• cheap
• creep
• deep
• heap
• jeep
• keep
• leap
• peep
• reap
• seep
• sheep
• sleep

Kids Definition

beep

noun

ˈbēp

: a sound that signals or warns

beep verb