[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

beat \beat\, n.
   1. a stroke; a blow.
      1913 webster

            he, with a careless beat,
            struck out the mute creation at a heat. --dryden.
      1913 webster

   2. a recurring stroke; a throb; a pulsation; as, a beat of
      the heart; the beat of the pulse.
      1913 webster

   3. mus.
      a 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.
      b a transient grace note, struck immediately before the
          one it is intended to ornament.
          1913 webster

   4. acoustics  mus. a sudden swelling or re"enforcement
      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.
      1913 webster

   5. a round or course which is frequently gone over; as, a
      watchman's beat; analogously, for newspaper reporters, the
      subject or territory that they are assigned to cover; as,
      the washington beat.
      1913 webster +pjc

   6. a place of habitual or frequent resort.
      1913 webster

   7. a cheat or swindler of the lowest grade; -- often
      emphasized by dead; as, a dead beat; also, deadbeat.
      low
      1913 webster

   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 beat of a clock, the stroke or sound
      made by the action of the escapement. a clock is in beat
      or out of beat, according as the stroke is at equal or
      unequal intervals.
      1913 webster
see also:
beat deadbeat beat of drum beat of a watch beat of a clock 

Beat >> B Words
Beat, definition of term: Beat
beat_pag1.html

Beat Up >> B Words
Beat Up, definition of term: Beat Up
beat+up_pag1.html

Beat Generation >> B Words
Beat Generation, definition of term: Beat Generation
beat+generation_pag1.html

Atomic Clock >> A Words
Atomic Clock, definition of term: Atomic Clock
atomic+clock_pag1.html