skip a beat

Verb

skip a beat (third-person singular simple present skips a beat, present participle skipping a beat, simple past and past participle skipped a beat)

1. (literally) To miss a beat.
2. (broadly) To experience a strong emotion.
   • My heart seemed to skip a beat when I parked my car at the old Safeway supermarket. My eyes gaped at the same aisles I had strolled through as a child.1997, David J. Pelzer, The lost boy: a foster child's search for the love of a family
   • Her heart seemed to skip a beat. "Halte!" the soldier ordered in a stern voice.1989, Lois Lowry, Number the stars
3. (broadly, idiomatic) To momentarily falter.
   • THE MEGHA HAD BEEN on the water for some three hours when Piya heard the engine skip a beat.2005, Amitav Ghosh, The hungry tide
   • Indeed, he did not skip a beat, stayed right with his training regimen, and flew out to Seattle on August 8.2008, Alan Howard Levy, Floyd Patterson: a boxer and a gentleman