accent vs beat

accent

noun
  • The rhythmical accent, which marks phrases and sections of a period. 

  • A special emphasis of a tone, even in the weaker part of the measure. 

  • A very small gemstone set into a piece of jewellery. 

  • Emphasis or importance in general. 

  • A manner of pronunciation suggesting that the speaker is from a different region; a foreign accent. 

  • Emphasis laid on a part of an artistic design or composition; an emphasized detail, in particular a detail in sharp contrast to its surroundings. 

  • A word; a significant tone or sound. 

  • A mark used to represent this special emphasis. 

  • Stress laid on certain syllables of a verse. 

  • A regularly recurring stress upon the tone to mark the beginning, and, more feebly, the third part of the measure. 

  • Expressions in general; speech. 

  • A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to emphasize it. 

  • Modulation of the voice in speaking; the manner of speaking or pronouncing; a peculiar or characteristic modification of the voice, expressing emotion; tone. 

  • A prime symbol. 

  • A mark or character used in writing, in order to indicate the place of the spoken accent, or to indicate the nature or quality of the vowel marked. 

  • A distinctive manner of producing a sign language, such as someone who does not normally use a certain sign language might have when using it. 

  • The distinctive manner of pronouncing a language associated with a particular region, social group, etc., whether of a native speaker or a foreign speaker; the phonetic and phonological aspects of a dialect. 

verb
  • To express the accent of vocally; to utter with accent. 

  • To mark emphatically; to emphasize; to accentuate; to make prominent. 

  • To mark with written accents. 

beat

noun
  • A rhythm. 

  • A short pause in a play, screenplay, or teleplay, for dramatic or comedic effect. 

  • A beatnik. 

  • A pulse on the beat level, the metric level at which pulses are heard as the basic unit. Thus a beat is the basic time unit of a piece. 

  • The route patrolled by a police officer or a guard. 

  • The primary focus of a reporter's stories (such as police/courts, education, city government, business etc.). 

  • The rhythm signalled by a conductor or other musician to the members of a group of musicians. 

  • A pulsation or throb. 

  • A makeup look; compare beat one's face. 

  • A stroke; a blow. 

  • The instrumental portion of a piece of hip-hop music. 

  • The act of scouring, or ranging over, a tract of land to rouse or drive out game; also, those so engaged, collectively. 

  • A smart tap on the adversary's blade. 

  • The interference between two tones of almost equal frequency 

  • A precinct. 

adj
  • Ugly. 

  • Having impressively attractive makeup. 

  • Boring. 

  • Exhausted. 

  • Relating to the Beat Generation. 

  • Dilapidated, beat up. 

verb
  • simple past tense of beat 

  • To rob. 

  • To indicate by beating or drumming. 

  • To win against; to defeat or overcome; to do or be better than (someone); to excel in a particular, competitive event. 

  • To sound with more or less rapid alternations of greater and lesser intensity, so as to produce a pulsating effect; said of instruments, tones, or vibrations not perfectly in unison. 

  • To exercise severely; to perplex; to trouble. 

  • To make a sound when struck. 

  • To sail to windward using a series of alternate tacks across the wind. 

  • To strike or pound repeatedly, usually in some sort of rhythm. 

  • To strike (water, foliage etc.) in order to drive out game; to travel through (a forest etc.) for hunting. 

  • To hit; to strike. 

  • To tread, as a path. 

  • To mix food in a rapid fashion. Compare whip. 

  • To make a succession of strokes on a drum. 

  • To move with pulsation or throbbing. 

  • To strike repeatedly; to inflict repeated blows; to knock vigorously or loudly. 

  • To have sexual intercourse. 

  • To arrive at a place before someone. 

  • To persuade the seller to reduce a price. 

  • To be in agitation or doubt. 

How often have the words accent and beat occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )