beep
Americannoun
-
beeps
plural
-
a short, relatively high-pitched tone produced by a horn, electronic device, or the like as a signal, summons, or warning.
-
one of the periodic signals sounded by a beeper.
verb (used without object)
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beeps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
beeped,
past participle, past
-
beeping
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
beeps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
beeped,
past participle, past
-
beeping
present participle
-
to sound (a horn, warning signal, etc.).
impatient drivers beeping their horns.
-
to announce, warn, summon, etc., by beeping.
The doctor was beeped to call the hospital.
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
beepsimple
-
beepssimple
-
have beepedperfect
-
has beepedperfect
-
am beepingprogressive
-
are beepingprogressive
-
is beepingprogressive
-
have been beepingperfect progressive
-
has been beepingperfect progressive
Past
-
beepedsimple
-
had beepedperfect
-
was beepingprogressive
-
were beepingprogressive
-
had been beepingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of beep
First recorded in 1925–30; imitative
Explanation
A beep is a brief warning sound. You might give a quick beep on your car horn to let a bicyclist know you're passing her on the road. Your friend's voice mail might say, "Leave a message after the beep!" and your smoke alarm might emit an annoying series of beeps when its battery is dying. In either case, you'll hear a high-pitched, brief tone. The word is imitative — it sounds like what it means — and relatively new, only as old as the car horns it imitates. Beep was first an interjection in the 1920s, and a noun and a verb by the end of the decade.
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:
Until then, drills buzz into concrete, construction lifts beep loudly, workers iron curtains and more art comes out of storage waiting for a moment in the sun.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026
At that point, sound effects beep to signal the start of a new game.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 28, 2026
"I sit in my lane and I'm frozen, totally petrified. I can't overtake and because you don't overtake, people start to beep at you and that drives me into more of a frenzy," she says.
From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2025
The funkiest thing a “radioactive shrimp” would do—that is, if you put a radiation sensor over such a crustacean, says Pillai—is beep.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2025
I hear something moving in the walls on either side of me, and then there’s a high-pitched beep.
From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth
Tina Tallon, a professor of artificial intelligence and music composition at The Ohio State University, explains that a "click track" features clicks or beeps such as a metronome, or other cues to capture rhythm.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
It’s something I really notice when I’m with other people and I hear all their dings, beeps, and chimes and I just think, Why?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
There is a danger, however, that Lego’s light touch might backfire, and parents won’t be thrilled about paying premium prices for a toy that essentially has a few extra beeps and boops.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
My days are filled with the beeps and growls of bulldozers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2025
We've moved about two blocks uptown when we hear a chorus of beeps and buzzes.
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
Shortly afterwards, mobile phones beeped in unison as a missile alert came in and the wail of sirens started up.
From Barron's ● Mar. 10, 2026
The craft beeped awake, arched its hawklike shoulders, and whined off into the valley.
From New York Times ● Nov. 23, 2024
Jeannine Ursell, from North Ferriby, East Yorkshire, says she gets beeped at and shouted at by people in cars and vans.
From BBC ● Nov. 16, 2024
It beeped as Bach and others in his module repeatedly alerted deputies that the insulin pump was empty.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2024
As I brushed my hair into a tight ponytail and arranged my hijab, my phone beeped again, alerting me to another text message.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
The hat-topped cars are now a fixture in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and even sparked a beeping backlash in Santa Monica.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
Tips for those feeling addicted to a beeping, chirping device.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
"There was just this incessant beeping," she said.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
The low hum of cars passing and horns beeping in the distance gives me a sense of safety; I’m never alone.
From Salon ● Mar. 15, 2026
There's always a machine beeping, doors clunking shut, carts and stretchers rolling around.
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
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