beat and beet are homophones: they are pronounced identically and spelled differently, which is why they are so often swapped. beat means “come out better in a competition, race, or conflict”. beet means “biennial Eurasian plant usually having a swollen edible root; widely cultivated as a food crop”. beat is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/ˈbit/
1.v.come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
“Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship”
2.v.give a beating to; subject to a beating, either as a punishment or as an act of aggression
“Thugs beat him up when he walked down the street late at night”
3.v.hit repeatedly
“beat on the door”
| beat | beet | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈbit/ | /ˈbit/ |
| Said | beet | beet |
| Syllables | 1 | 1 |
| Letters | 4 | 4 |
| Parts of speech | verb, noun, adjective | noun |
| Senses | 34 | 2 |
| How common | Core | Familiar |
| Synonyms | beat out, crush, shell | common beet, Beta vulgaris |
Full entry for beat · Full entry for beet · More comparisons
/ˈbit/
1.n.biennial Eurasian plant usually having a swollen edible root; widely cultivated as a food crop
2.n.round red root vegetable