beat all

Idioms  

1. Surpass anything, especially in a strange or amazing way, as in Adam and his cousin Eve eloped—doesn't that beat all! This phrase appears to have replaced beat the Dutch. It is often used in a negative construction, as in the example. [Slang; first half of 1800s] Also see to beat the band.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

beat all

The earnings beat all boils down to the artificial-intelligence boom, which has driven up demand for data and hard drives.

From Barron's ● Jan. 28, 2026

But Pretty Little Baby by the late Connie Francis has beat all of them to claim TikTok's global song of the year, six decades after its release in 1962.

From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2025

“We beat all the teams we played and no one’s gone undefeated to win CIF — these girls are the first to accomplish that,” Ong said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2025

Given Watson had shot 65-65 over the weekend in Turnberry with Nicklaus shooting 65-66, it was the compliment to beat all compliments.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2024

Before my good sense can get a word in edgewise I'm running across the room, throwing my arms around him in an embrace to beat all embraces.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland