BEAT

Definitions

1. 1. A stroke; a blow. He, with a careless beat, Struck out the mute creation at a heat. Dryden.
2. 2. A recurring stroke; a throb; a pulsation; as, a beat of the heart; the beat of the pulse.
3. 3. The rise or fall of the hand or foot, marking the divisions of time; a division of the measure so marked. In the rhythm of music the beat is the unit.
4. 4. A transient grace note, struck immediately before the one it is intended to ornament.
5. 5. A sudden swelling or reënforcement of a sound, recurring at regular intervals, and produced by the interference of sound waves of slightly different periods of vibrations; applied also, by analogy, to other kinds of wave motions; the pulsation or throbbing produced by the vibrating together of two tones not quite in unison. See Beat, v. i., 8.
6. 6. A round or course which is frequently gone over; as, a watchman's beat.
7. 7. A place of habitual or frequent resort.
8. 8. A cheat or swindler of the lowest grade; -- often emphasized by dead; as, a dead beat. [Low] Beat of drum (Mil.), a succession of strokes varied, in different ways, for particular purposes, as to regulate a march, to call soldiers to their arms or quarters, to direct an attack, or retreat, etc. -- Beat of a watch, or clock, the stroke or sound made by the action of the escapement. A clock is in beat or out of beat, according as the strokes is at equal or unequal intervals.