as in to repel
to drive back
the defense managed to beat off those offensive players who were taking shots at the goalie
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Recent Examples of beat off
The dogs had driven the woman into the surf before a tourist came to her rescue, beating off the dingoes.
—
CBS News, 28 Jan. 2026
On this play, Tegra Tshabola got beat off the ball, forcing Donaldson to take a different hole before running into a defender who center Carson Hinzman was on until the hole shifted.
—Cameron Teague Robinson, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
Chip Somodevilla/Pool Photo via AP What To Know Obama beat off stiff competition from the likes of David Attenborough and Tom Hanks to win the Outstanding Narrator prize for his narration of the five-part Netflix series Our Oceans, which examines marine life across the world's oceans.
—Daniel Orton, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Sep. 2025
In 2024, it was given to Netflix France series Class Act, which beat off competition from huge hits like The Bear, Beef and Succession.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 5 Aug. 2025
Breathing problems which sent my heart beat off the charts.
—David Velasco, Harpers Magazine, 18 Dec. 2023
CBS News, 28 Jan. 2026
On this play, Tegra Tshabola got beat off the ball, forcing Donaldson to take a different hole before running into a defender who center Carson Hinzman was on until the hole shifted.
—Cameron Teague Robinson, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
Chip Somodevilla/Pool Photo via AP What To Know Obama beat off stiff competition from the likes of David Attenborough and Tom Hanks to win the Outstanding Narrator prize for his narration of the five-part Netflix series Our Oceans, which examines marine life across the world's oceans.
—Daniel Orton, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Sep. 2025
In 2024, it was given to Netflix France series Class Act, which beat off competition from huge hits like The Bear, Beef and Succession.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 5 Aug. 2025
Breathing problems which sent my heart beat off the charts.
—David Velasco, Harpers Magazine, 18 Dec. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for beat off
Verb
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Inviting in such resolute saboteurs, these institutions repel many in their core audience.—
Sean Williams,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
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In ancient China, Fa Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) takes her ailing father’s place as a conscript by disguising herself as a man to help repel the invading Huns.—
David Faris,
TheWeek,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Crystals are materials whose particles form repeating patterns that resist deformation, commonly seen in nature as snowflakes, diamonds, or table salt.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Jan. 2026
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Besides, Wall Street’s infatuation with AI was likely too hard to resist.—
Victor Tangermann,
Futurism,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Around the same time that the Genetic Studies of Genius started to yield questionable results, our collective attention turned away from IQ toward EQ, when Peter Salovey and John Mayer coined the term emotional intelligence in 1990, and Daniel Goleman popularized it with his 1995 book.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
3 Feb. 2026
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Hassan turned away and stood in front of a closed shop.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Monday's situation at the airport was much calmer, despite below-freezing temperatures that caused the weekend's rainfall to turn back into ice.—
Dan Raby,
CBS News,
26 Jan. 2026
-
Morris shook Crockett’s hand before turning back down the sidewalk.—
Kate Armanini,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
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That effort quickly repulsed decent Americans.—
Chris Brennan,
USA Today,
29 Jan. 2026
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But because these policies either command majority support among Democratic voters or matter enormously to progressive interest groups, Newsom could very well make it through a primary despite a record that would repulse swing voters come November 2028.—
Jonathan Chait,
The Atlantic,
22 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Gibney illustrates that state of waiting, of staving off what at that time appears to be the inevitable, with the famous sequence from Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, in which Max von Sydow’s medieval knight plays chess with Death on a desolate beach.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Jan. 2026
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The 76ers had pulled within two late until Anunoby and Landry Shamet followed with consecutive 3s that helped the Knicks stave off the late-game collapse.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
24 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Beat off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/beat%20off. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.
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