Link Centre Dictionary

downbeat

down·beat

UK/daʊnˈbiːt/ US/daʊˈnbit/ uncommon

noun

1.

the first beat of a musical measure (as the conductor''s arm moves downward)

Origin

Earlier downbeaten, from the phrasal verb beat down

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.