Meaning of Idiom ‘Beat It’
To beat it means to leave immediately; go away [command]; to leave quickly when in a hurry. 1Heacock, Paul. Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2010. 2Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
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Notes On Use
Beat it is still a slang term and it usually used as an order to tell someone to go away quickly, as in “Beat it, Kid!” It is similar to expressions such as buzz off, scram, or shoo. 3 Brenner, Gail Abel. Webster’s New World American Idioms Handbook. Wiley, 2003.
Sentence Examples
“I have to beat it back to work. There’s some kind of emergency meeting going on.”
“Beat it,” said the businessman to the homeless person asking for money.
“Look, kid, I told you I don’t want to buy any magazines,” said the man. “Why don’t you just beat it?”
“Is that another creep? What do you want, creep? Just beat it.” — Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
“Hi! We’re orphans from Miss Hattie’s Home for Girls. I don’t care. Beat it!” — Despicable Me (2010)
“If KC does not stop the action of sending texts in class and tell her posse outside to beat it then my reaction might be to send her down to Principal Zito’s office.” — Warrior (2011)
“We’re closed! Beat it, or I’ll call the brute squad.” — The Princess Bride (1987)
“You’ve got a nerve, following me into the hotel and up to my room. Now, you beat it. Please. I just want to talk to you.” — Vertigo (1958)
Origin
The title of a hit song off of Michael Jackson’s 1982 Thriller album, this idiom has actually been used since at least the first decade of the 1900’s.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms, this slang expression is based on the idiom beat a retreat.
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