beating

Pluralbeatings

1. 1
   nouncountable

   The act of striking a person or thing repeatedly with hard blows.

   The prisoner showed clear signs of a severe beating.

   Witnesses described the beating that left the man in the hospital.

   Similarthrashing, battering, pummeling, hiding

   Note

   Two uses share this spelling. As a mass noun it names the action itself and usually takes of: the beating of a drum. As a count noun it names a single episode of violence against a person, as in secret beatings of prisoners or one of the most severe beatings seen on tape. The word is simply beat plus -ing, which is why every sense keeps the blow inside it.

2. 2
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A heavy defeat or setback in a contest or struggle.

   The home side suffered a humiliating beating on Saturday.

   The company's stock took a beating after the disappointing report.

   Similarthrashing, drubbing, hammering, trouncing, defeat

   Oppositevictory

   Note

   Here the blows are figurative. What gets battered is a team, a side or a fortune, and the result is one-sided rather than narrow. Phil McNulty's 2011 BBC Sport report on Manchester United's 1–6 home loss to Manchester City shows the scale it implies. It keeps the violence of the physical sense, which is why it sounds harsher than plain defeat, its neutral equivalent.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The rhythmic pulsation of the heart as it pumps blood through the body.

   The rapid beating of his heart betrayed how nervous he was.

   Through the stethoscope, the faint beating of the patient's heart grew steadier.

   Similarthrobbing, pounding, pulsing, pulsation, thumping

4. 4
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of beat.

   Heavy waves were beating against the rocks throughout the night.

   He stood at the counter beating the eggs into a light froth.

   Note

   The -ing form does double duty. After be it makes the progressive (waves were beating against the rocks), and as a gerund it fills a noun's slot while still taking a direct object (beating the eggs). That object is the test against the noun for the act, which needs of instead: beating eggs, but the beating of eggs. Sailors use the verb too, for working to windward in alternate tacks.

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