an ancient Greek dance imitating the motions of warfare
a metrical unit with unstressed-unstressed syllables
of or relating to or resembling Pyrrhus or his exploits (especially his sustaining staggering losses in order to defeat the Romans); "a Pyrrhic victory"
of or relating to or containing a metrical foot of two unstressed syllables; "pyrrhic verses"
of or relating to a war dance of ancient Greece; "pyrrhic dance movements"
the act of beating to windward; sailing as close as possible to the direction from which the wind is blowing
a stroke or blow; "the signal was two beats on the steam pipe"
a regular rate of repetition; "the cox raised the beat"
the sound of stroke or blow; "he heard the beat of a drum"
a regular route for a sentry or policeman; "in the old days a policeman walked a beat and knew all his people by name"
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
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"
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"
hit repeatedly; "beat on the door"; "beat the table with his shoe"
strike (water or bushes) repeatedly to rouse animals for hunting
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"
stir vigorously; "beat the egg whites"; "beat the cream"
shape by beating; "beat swords into ploughshares"
produce a rhythm by striking repeatedly; "beat the drum"
make by pounding or trampling; "beat a path through the forest"
move rhythmically; "Her heart was beating fast"
indicate by beating, as with the fingers or drumsticks; "Beat the rhythm"
sail with much tacking or with difficulty; "The boat beat in the strong wind"
move with a flapping motion; "The bird's wings were flapping"
move with a thrashing motion; "The bird flapped its wings"; "The eagle beat its wings and soared high into the sky"
glare or strike with great intensity; "The sun was beating down on us"
avoid paying; "beat the subway fare"
be superior; "Reading beats watching television"; "This sure beats work!"
status established in order of importance or urgency; "...its precedence as the world's leading manufacturer of pharmaceuticals"; "national independence takes priority over class struggle"
a casualty to military personnel resulting from combat
a figurative injury (to your feelings or pride); "he feared that mentioning it might reopen the wound"; "deep in her breast lives the silent wound"; "The right reader of a good poem can tell the moment it strikes him that he has taken an immortal wound--that he will never get over it"--Robert Frost
any break in the skin or an organ caused by violence or surgical incision