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beat time

Idioms

Mark musical time by beating a drum, clapping, tapping the foot, or a similar means. For example, Even as a baby, Dave always beat time when he heard music. [Late 1600s]

Example Sentences

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beat time

A man in a wheelchair wearing a pale-gray blazer beat time to the music with his eyes closed, a look of intense joy on his face.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 1, 2018

“Perhaps not,” Alice cautiously replied: “but I know I have to beat time when I learn music.”

From Washington Post ● Jan. 7, 2016

The white-faced Nijinsky beat time from the wings.

From Time Magazine Archive

"It's easy to stand up and beat time and have fancy choreography and a good tailor, but that does not make a good conductor," observes Fleischmann.

From Time Magazine Archive

He had a string of bells around one of his ankles and beat time with his foot as he played.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023