Did you know?

Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word

beat - thesaurus entry

Close

What are red words?

90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

verb
  1. 1
    to hit someone violently several times

    *American English synonyms or related words for this sense of beat*

  2. 5
    to hit something several times making a regular pattern of sounds, or to make this pattern of sounds

    *American English synonyms or related words for this sense of beat*

    1. a.
      to hit an object or part of the body with your hands

      *American English synonyms or related words for this sense of beat*

    2. b.
      if a bird or insect beats its wings, or if its wings beat, it hits them together several times

      *American English synonyms or related words for this sense of beat*

    3. c.
      to hit something many times or for a long period of time

      *American English synonyms or related words for this sense of beat*

    4. d.
      to hit a piece of metal with a special hammer in order to make it thinner

      *American English synonyms or related words for this sense of beat*

phrases

vocal fry

a speech habit in which a speaker lowers their voice at the end of a sentence

BuzzWord Article

Word of the Day Word of the Day

dray

a type of cart pulled by a horse and used in the past for carrying barrels of beer

Open Dictionary

conflict mineral

a mineral which is mined in a place where there is armed conflict, and sold to help pay for weapons

add a word

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog