beat the band
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Times and UC Berkeley gave her a 50% approval rating among California voters, which is not exactly a number to beat the band.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2025
Charlie, though, creates songs and sings them as well, and he can play guitar to beat the band.
From New York Times ● Jun. 12, 2020
The show ends with most of the company taking a turn on the Russian swing — that’s a kind of horseless sledge — flinging themselves high into the air and smiling to beat the band.
From New York Times ● Dec. 10, 2019
With an explosive drum beat, the band announced itself with the brassy clamor of “Dead and Gone,” from 2011’s “El Camino.”
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 2, 2014
The automobile had a black canvas roof, slotted rubber tires, and a brass horn, and was shimmying and shaking and backfiring to beat the band.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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.
