beaten Meaning, Definition & Usage

1. verb come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
   shell; beat; trounce; crush; beat out; vanquish.
   
   • Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship
   • We beat the competition
   • Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game
2. verb give a beating to; subject to a beating, either as a punishment or as an act of aggression
   beat; beat up; work over.
   
   • Thugs beat him up when he walked down the street late at night
   • The teacher used to beat the students
3. verb hit repeatedly
   beat.
   
   • beat on the door
   • beat the table with his shoe
4. verb move rhythmically
   beat; pound; thump.
   
   • Her heart was beating fast
5. verb shape by beating
   beat.
   
   • beat swords into ploughshares
6. verb make a rhythmic sound
   beat; drum; thrum.
   
   • Rain drummed against the windshield
   • The drums beat all night
7. verb glare or strike with great intensity
   beat.
   
   • The sun was beating down on us
8. verb move with a thrashing motion
   beat; flap.
   
   • The bird flapped its wings
   • The eagle beat its wings and soared high into the sky
9. verb sail with much tacking or with difficulty
   beat.
   
   • The boat beat in the strong wind
10. verb stir vigorously
    beat; scramble.
    
    • beat the egg whites
    • beat the cream
11. verb strike (a part of one's own body) repeatedly, as in great emotion or in accompaniment to music
    beat.
    
    • beat one's breast
    • beat one's foot rhythmically
12. verb be superior
    beat.
    
    • Reading beats watching television
    • This sure beats work!
13. verb avoid paying
    beat; bunk.
    
    • beat the subway fare
14. verb make a sound like a clock or a timer
    beat; tick; ticktack; ticktock.
    
    • the clocks were ticking
    • the grandfather clock beat midnight
15. verb move with a flapping motion
    beat; flap.
    
    • The bird's wings were flapping
16. verb indicate by beating, as with the fingers or drumsticks
    beat.
    
    • Beat the rhythm
17. verb move with or as if with a regular alternating motion
    beat; pulsate; quiver.
    
    • the city pulsated with music and excitement
18. verb make by pounding or trampling
    beat.
    
    • beat a path through the forest
19. verb produce a rhythm by striking repeatedly
    beat.
    
    • beat the drum
20. verb strike (water or bushes) repeatedly to rouse animals for hunting
    beat.
    
21. verb beat through cleverness and wit
    outsmart; beat; overreach; outwit; outfox; circumvent.
    
    • I beat the traffic
    • She outfoxed her competitors
22. verb be a mystery or bewildering to
    mystify; perplex; bewilder; get; beat; puzzle; pose; amaze; vex; baffle; flummox; stick; stupefy; gravel; nonplus; dumbfound.
    
    • This beats me!
    • Got me--I don't know the answer!
    • a vexing problem
    • This question really stuck me
23. verb wear out completely
    wash up; exhaust; tucker; beat; tucker out.
    
    • This kind of work exhausts me
    • I'm beat
    • He was all washed up after the exam
24. adjective formed or made thin by hammering
    
    • beaten gold
25. adjective satellite much trodden and worn smooth or bare
    
    • did not stray from the beaten path

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