beep
Americannoun
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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)
verb (used with object)
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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
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beepsimple
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beepssimple
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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:
Moxi – which shuttles medical supplies around hospitals – might respond by displaying its heart-shaped LED eyes and a beep beep greeting of its own.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
And, I promise, if the apocalypse actually comes, you can still beep me.”
From Salon ● Mar. 26, 2026
She added: “I promise if the apocalypse actually comes you can still beep me.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026
When she heard the beep to start, Vonn dug her pink ski poles into the snow and set off on a run that already ranked as one of the most audacious in Olympic history.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 8, 2026
I start pushing random buttons on my phone, thinking it might make Safer’s phone beep and catch his attention.
From "Liar & Spy" by Rebecca Stead
I love the alert beeps that sound when I’m getting too close to anything.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 20, 2025
However, Heathrow said the track also featured sounds from famous movie scenes, including passengers tapping their feet in Bend It Like Beckham and the beeps of a security scanner from Love Actually.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2025
Over the zaps of workers’ welding and beeps of a forklift, Cover representatives answered questions about the homes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2025
The sounds of construction — the slow beeps of a truck in reverse, a pile driver pounding the hard earth — filled the air.
From Seattle Times ● May 31, 2024
I hear other voices, other noises, beeps and alarms.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
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
It beeped during mealtimes, when Bach gave his food to fellow detainees because eating without insulin could cause his blood glucose level to spike to dangerous levels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2024
Monitors beeped; Shakira played on the sound system.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 19, 2023
Momly beeped the horn and waved Becca, Taylor, and TeeTee over.
From "Patina" by Jason Reynolds
"There was just this incessant beeping," she said.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
At first Aneesa, 25, thought the van driver was beeping because of a problem with traffic, but was left shocked when she realised he was targeting her and her younger sister.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
The beaches are empty, and he can concentrate on the beeping in his bulbous yellow headphones, which grows louder as the coil gets closer to metal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 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
From Outside, I hear a rumble and then a beeping.
From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
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.
