its most general acceptation, signifies to chastise, strike, knock, or vanquish. But it has several other significations in the manufactures, and in the arts and trades. Sometimes it signifies to forge and hammer; in which sense smiths and farriers say, to beat iron; sometimes it means to pound, to reduce into powder; thus, to beat drugs, to beat pepper, to beat spices, that is, to pulverize them.

fencing, denotes a blow or stroke given with the sword. There are two kinds of beats; the first performed with the foible of a man's sword on the foible of his adversary's, which in the schools is commonly called batterie, from the French battre, and is chiefly used in a pursuit, to make an open upon the adversary. The second and best kind of beat is performed with the forte of a man's sword upon the foible of his adversary's, not with a spring, as in binding, but with a jerk or dry beat; and is therefore most proper for the parades without or within the sword, because of the rebound a man's sword thereby has from his adversary's, which procures him a better and surer opportunity of risposting.

the manège. A horse is said to beat the dust, when at each stroke or motion he does not take in ground or way enough with his fore-legs. He is more particularly said to beat the dust at terra a terra when he does not take in ground enough with his shoulders, making his strokes or motions too short, as if he made them all in one place. He beats the dust at curvettes when he does them too precipitately and too low. He beats upon a wall when he walks too short, and thus clears but little ground, whether it be in straight lines, rounds, or passings.

Beat of Drum, in the military art, is an alarm of sudden danger, or a notice to repair immediately to arms or quarters, or an order to obey a movement either in advance or retreat given by means of the drum.

Beat, St., a town of France, in the department of Upper Garonne, at the confluence of the Garonne and the Pique. It is situated between two mountains, which are close to the town on each side. The houses are chiefly built of marble. Long. 0. 41. E. Lat. 42. 56. N.

Beater, in manufactures, is applied to divers sorts of workmen, whose business it is to hammer or flatten certain materials, particularly metals.

Gold-Beaters are artizans, who, by beating with a hammer, on a marble, gold and silver in moulds of velvet and bullocks' guts, reduce them to thin leaves fit for gilding or silvering copper, iron, steel, wood, and other materials. Gold-beaters differ from flatteners of gold or silver; for the former bring their metal into leaves by the hammer, whereas the latter only flatten it by pressing it through a mill preparatory to beating.

There are also Tin-Beaters employed in the looking-glass trade, whose business it is to beat tin on large blocks of marble till it be reduced to thin leaves fit to be applied with quicksilver in preparing looking-glasses.