- present participle of beat.
noun
-
a whipping or thrashing, as in punishment
-
a defeat or setback
-
to be difficult to improve upon
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of beating
First recorded in 1200–50; from Middle English betynge; see beat, -ing 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Active intermediate core bond funds, the largest category, had a 66% success rate beating benchmarks over the past year, and a majority have done so for three years running, according to Morningstar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
"We have two hearts beating in our chests," Burghardt, the mayor, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
The company’s newest Gemini 3 model swept industry benchmarks, beating out rivals OpenAI and Anthropic in performance after getting a late start to the large-language-model race.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
The quakes hit as La Guaira was marking the feast of San Juan, an annual celebration featuring the ritual beating of drums.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Even if you win a battle, as long as the enemy’s got a heart that’s beating and a brain that’s working, you’d better be prepared for a counterattack.
From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan
Later it took further beatings as they worked out how the 8,000-pound horse could be dragged over dunes and log rollers by actors with ropes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Rafael Nadal regularly handed out one-sided beatings on his way to a scarcely-believable 14 triumphs over a 17-year stretch, while Iga Swiatek did similar in her four victories between 2020 and 2024.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2025
“People don’t have the bandwidth to respond with the kind of outrage that they would when you saw the beatings at Pan Pacific Park,” said Abdullah, referring to the LAPD’s response to protests in 2020.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2025
As one British study titled "Banter, bollockings and beatings" made clear, an often macho culture can prevail, including bizarre induction rituals.
From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2024
Not from Gebu, not from beatings and hunger, not from Ibni and his hateful wineskins.
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
