The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Beat \Beat\, v. i.
1. To strike repeatedly; to inflict repeated blows; to knock
vigorously or loudly.
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The men of the city . . . beat at the door.
--Judges. xix.
22.
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2. To move with pulsation or throbbing.
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A thousand hearts beat happily. --Byron.
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3. To come or act with violence; to dash or fall with force;
to strike anything, as rain, wind, and waves do.
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Sees rolling tempests vainly beat below. --Dryden.
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They [winds] beat at the crazy casement.
--Longfellow.
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The sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he
fainted, and wished in himself to die. --Jonah iv.
8.
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Public envy seemeth to beat chiefly upon ministers.
--Bacon.
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4. To be in agitation or doubt. [Poetic]
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To still my beating mind. --Shak.
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5. (Naut.) To make progress against the wind, by sailing in a
zigzag line or traverse.
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6. To make a sound when struck; as, the drums beat.
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7. (Mil.) To make a succession of strokes on a drum; as, the
drummers beat to call soldiers to their quarters.
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8. (Acoustics & Mus.) To sound with more or less rapid
alternations of greater and less intensity, so as to
produce a pulsating effect; -- said of instruments, tones,
or vibrations, not perfectly in unison.
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A beating wind (Naut.), a wind which necessitates tacking
in order to make progress.
To beat about, to try to find; to search by various means
or ways. --Addison.
To beat about the bush, to approach a subject circuitously.
To beat up and down (Hunting), to run first one way and
then another; -- said of a stag.
To beat up for recruits, to go diligently about in order to
get helpers or participators in an enterprise.
To beat the rap, to be acquitted of an accusation; --
especially, by some sly or deceptive means, rather than to
be proven innocent.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Bush \Bush\ (b[.u]sh), n. [OE. bosch, busch, buysch, bosk, busk;
akin to D. bosch, OHG. busc, G. busch, Icel. b[=u]skr,
b[=u]ski, Dan. busk, Sw. buske, and also to LL. boscus,
buscus, Pr. bosc, It. bosco, Sp. & Pg. bosque, F. bois, OF.
bos. Whether the LL. or G. form is the original is uncertain;
if the LL., it is perh. from the same source as E. box a
case. Cf. Ambush, Boscage, Bouquet, Box a case.]
1. A thicket, or place abounding in trees or shrubs; a wild
forest.
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Note: This was the original sense of the word, as in the
Dutch bosch, a wood, and was so used by Chaucer. In
this sense it is extensively used in the British
colonies, especially at the Cape of Good Hope, and also
in Australia and Canada; as, to live or settle in the
bush.
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2. A shrub; esp., a shrub with branches rising from or near
the root; a thick shrub or a cluster of shrubs.
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To bind a bush of thorns among sweet-smelling
flowers. --Gascoigne.
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3. A shrub cut off, or a shrublike branch of a tree; as,
bushes to support pea vines.
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4. A shrub or branch, properly, a branch of ivy (as sacred to
Bacchus), hung out at vintners' doors, or as a tavern
sign; hence, a tavern sign, and symbolically, the tavern
itself.
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If it be true that good wine needs no bush, 't is
true that a good play needs no epilogue. --Shak.
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5. (Hunting) The tail, or brush, of a fox.
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To beat about the bush, to approach anything in a
round-about manner, instead of coming directly to it; -- a
metaphor taken from hunting.
Bush bean (Bot.), a variety of bean which is low and
requires no support (Phaseolus vulgaris, variety nanus).
See Bean, 1.
Bush buck, or Bush goat (Zool.), a beautiful South
African antelope (Tragelaphus sylvaticus); -- so called
because found mainly in wooden localities. The name is
also applied to other species.
Bush cat (Zool.), the serval. See Serval.
Bush chat (Zool.), a bird of the genus Pratincola, of the
Thrush family.
Bush dog. (Zool.) See Potto.
Bush hammer. See Bushhammer in the Vocabulary.
Bush harrow (Agric.) See under Harrow.
Bush hog (Zool.), a South African wild hog
(Potamoch[oe]rus Africanus); -- called also bush pig,
and water hog.
Bush master (Zool.), a venomous snake (Lachesis mutus) of
Guinea; -- called also surucucu.
Bush pea (Bot.), a variety of pea that needs to be bushed.
Bush shrike (Zool.), a bird of the genus Thamnophilus,
and allied genera; -- called also batarg. Many species
inhabit tropical America.
Bush tit (Zool.), a small bird of the genus Psaltriparus,
allied to the titmouse. Psaltriparus minimus inhabits
California.
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