5. (Naut.)
Defn: To make progress against the wind, by sailing in a zigzag line or traverse.
6. To make a sound when struck; as, the drums beat.
7. (Mil.)
Defn: To make a succession of strokes on a drum; as, the drummers beat to call soldiers to their quarters.
8. (Acoustics & Mus.)
Defn: 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. 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.
BEAT
Beat, n.
1. A stroke; a blow.
He, with a careless beat, Struck out the mute creation at a heat.
Dryden.
2. A recurring stroke; a throb; a pulsation; as, a beat of the heart; the beat of the pulse.