(idiomatic) To patrol on the job, especially as a police officer or guard.

(music) Any of the even beats in music, as opposed to the odd downbeats

(idiomatic) Very vigorously; at a frantic pace; to a high degree; in such a way as to surpass all competition.

(theater, film) The smallest division of action in a play, film or other work of drama; The moment at which increasing dramatic tension produces a noticeable change in the consciousness of one or more characters.

(music) A form of pop music having distorted breakbeats at a moderate tempo.

A group of countercultural American writers who came to prominence in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Their most important works are Jack Kerouac's On the Road (1957), Allen Ginsberg's Howl (1956), and William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch (1959).

(chiefly of an object, informal) Worn out by overuse; in a state of disrepair

(Australia, New Zealand) An artificially or disingenuously manufactured outcry, usually in the media.

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see beat, down. / (transitive) To forcefully diminish the power or influence of; to quell; to squash.

Alternative spelling of beatdown