beat

Definitions

• A stroke; a blow.
• A pulsation or throb.
• A pulse on the beat level, the metric level at which pulses are heard as the basic unit. Thus a beat is the basic time unit of a piece.
• A rhythm.
• The interference between two tones of almost equal frequency
• (authorship) A short pause in a play, screenplay, or teleplay, for dramatic or comedic effect; a plot point or story development.
• The route patrolled by a police officer or a guard.
• (by extension) An area of a person's responsibility, especially
• (dated) An act of reporting news or scientific results before a rival; a scoop.
• (colloquial) That which beats, or surpasses, another or others.
• (dated) A precinct.
• (dated) A place of habitual or frequent resort.
• (archaic) A low cheat or swindler.
• The instrumental portion of a piece of hip-hop music.
• (hunting) The act of scouring, or ranging over, a tract of land to rouse or drive out game; also, those so engaged, collectively.
• (fencing) A smart tap on the adversary's blade.