beat it

Idioms

Go away, as in We should beat it before the food's all gone. This term is rude when used as an imperative, as in Stop pestering me—beat it! [Slang; late 1800s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Van Der Beek, who died Wednesday after a colorectal cancer diagnosis, seemed to embrace the ethos of joining in everyone’s fun when there’s no sense of trying to beat it.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 12, 2026

Gold could get close to $5000 per ounce in 2026 and beat it in 2027, predicts Deutsche Bank.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 26, 2025

But Martin, working with pathologist Larry J. Stowell, was able to pinpoint the cause of that “rapid blight”—a fungus, Labyrinthula terrestris—and quickly work up a program to beat it back.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025

"You just can't beat it here, with the family, and cows, and farming, and just - this."

From BBC • Oct. 3, 2024

Once she heard the beat, it all came rushing back.

From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas

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