beat and rhythm share a recorded sense, so the question is not what they mean but which one fits. beat means “come out better in a competition, race, or conflict”. rhythm means “the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music”. 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”
1.n.the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music
“the piece has a fast rhythm”
2.n.recurring at regular intervals
3.n.an interval during which a recurring sequence of events occurs
“the never-ending cycle of the seasons”
| beat | rhythm | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈbit/ | /ˈɹɪðəm/ |
| Said | beet | RITH-uhm |
| Syllables | 1 | 2 |
| Letters | 4 | 6 |
| Parts of speech | verb, noun, adjective | noun |
| Senses | 34 | 5 |
| How common | Core | Common |
| Synonyms | beat out, crush, shell | beat, musical rhythm |
Full entry for beat · Full entry for rhythm · More comparisons