Word.ws English Dictionary

to beat the band

to beat the band adverb: in such a way as to surpass all competition; hence, contextually, very vigorously, at a frantic pace, to a high degree.

Adverb

to beat the band

  1. (idiomatic) In such a way as to surpass all competition; hence, contextually, very vigorously, at a frantic pace, to a high degree.
    • Fifty dollars gold 'd buy beer to beat the band—enough to drown me if I fell in head first.1917, Jack London, chapter 7, in Michael, Brother of Jerry
    • Last time I saw you, you were a kiddy in short frocks, running around and shouting to beat the band.1921, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 7, in The Little Warrior

Synonyms of to beat the band

Origin of to beat the band

Jonathon Green suggests that it means to drown out the band, that is, talk or sing louder than the band. See also beat the band.

Questions about to beat the band

What does to beat the band mean?
To beat the band means in such a way as to surpass all competition; hence, contextually, very vigorously, at a frantic pace, to a high degree.
What part of speech is to beat the band?
To beat the band is an adverb.

Words near to beat the band in the dictionary

  1. to be named later
  2. to be precise
  3. to be reckoned with
  4. to be sure
  5. to be truthful
  6. to beat the band
  7. to begin with
  8. to bits
  9. to blame
  10. to boot
  11. to burn

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: to beat the band (page history and authors). 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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-to beat the band.ogg.

Cite this entry: “to beat the band.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/to_beat_the_band. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.