Beat of drum

Beat \Beat\, n.
   1. A stroke; a blow.
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            He, with a careless beat,
            Struck out the mute creation at a heat. --Dryden.
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   2. A recurring stroke; a throb; a pulsation; as, a beat of
      the heart; the beat of the pulse.
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   3. (Mus.)
      (a) The rise or fall of the hand or foot, marking the
          divisions of time; a division of the measure so
          marked. In the rhythm of music the beat is the unit.
      (b) A transient grace note, struck immediately before the
          one it is intended to ornament.
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   4. (Acoustics & Mus.) A sudden swelling or re["e]nforcement
      of a sound, recurring at regular intervals, and produced
      by the interference of sound waves of slightly different
      periods of vibrations; applied also, by analogy, to other
      kinds of wave motions; the pulsation or throbbing produced
      by the vibrating together of two tones not quite in
      unison. See {Beat}, v. i., 8.
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   5. A round or course which is frequently gone over; as, a
      watchman's beat; analogously, for newspaper reporters, the
      subject or territory that they are assigned to cover; as,
      the Washington beat.
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   6. A place of habitual or frequent resort.
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   7. A cheat or swindler of the lowest grade; -- often
      emphasized by dead; as, a dead beat; also, {deadbeat}.
      [Low]
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   {Beat of drum} (Mil.), a succession of strokes varied, in
      different ways, for particular purposes, as to regulate a
      march, to call soldiers to their arms or quarters, to
      direct an attack, or retreat, etc.

   {Beat of a watch}, or {Beat of a clock}, the stroke or sound
      made by the action of the escapement. A clock is in beat
      or out of beat, according as the stroke is at equal or
      unequal intervals.
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