beat a hasty retreat
beat a hasty retreat verb: to leave as quickly as possible.
Verb
beat a hasty retreat (third-person singular simple present beats a hasty retreat, present participle beating a hasty retreat, simple past beat a hasty retreat, past participle beaten a hasty retreat)
- To leave as quickly as possible.
- A few nights ago, a fair trader had commenced unloading her cargo, consisting of light goods, in the Pent, but in the midst of the operation was discovered by the Philistines, and obliged to beat a hasty retreat across the rope-walk to the sea...1827, The Times
- I found not a sole around and beat a hasty retreat, but before leaving I took a look around and was impressed by the location and proximity of the lagoon.2003, Mike Hollywood, Papa Mike's Cook Islands Handbook, page 100
beat a hasty retreat meaning in Malayalam
beat a hasty retreat in Malayalam
- retreat, withdrawal, pulling back
- ഓടിമറയുക, ധൃതിയിൽ കടന്നുകളയുക, പിൻവാങ്ങൽ, പിൻമാറ്റം, പിൻതിരിയൽ, പിന്തിരിച്ചൽ
Examples of beat a hasty retreat in a sentence
- After apologizing profusely, I beat a hasty retreat.2012, H.H. Kothe, Grandpa Was a Sailor, page 56:
- The mysterious stranger had evidently beat a hasty retreat!2013, John O'Loughlin, Fixed Limits:
Forms of beat a hasty retreat
| third-person singular present | beats a hasty retreat |
|---|---|
| present participle | beating a hasty retreat |
| past | beat a hasty retreat |
| past participle | beaten a hasty retreat |
Origin of beat a hasty retreat
Originally a military term, referring to the pace set by drummers in the British army.
Questions about beat a hasty retreat
- What does beat a hasty retreat mean?
- Beat a hasty retreat means to leave as quickly as possible.
- What is beat a hasty retreat in Malayalam?
- Beat a hasty retreat in Malayalam is ഓടിമറയുക, ധൃതിയിൽ കടന്നുകളയുക, പിൻവാങ്ങൽ. See Beat a hasty retreat meaning in Malayalam.
- How do you use beat a hasty retreat in a sentence?
- After apologizing profusely, I beat a hasty retreat.
- What part of speech is beat a hasty retreat?
- Beat a hasty retreat is a verb.
- What is the past tense of beat a hasty retreat?
- The past tense of beat a hasty retreat is beat a hasty retreat.
Words near beat a hasty retreat in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: beat a hasty retreat (page history and authors); beat a hasty retreat (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “beat a hasty retreat.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/beat_a_hasty_retreat. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.