beat off

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beat off (third-person singular simple present beats off, present participle beating off, simple past beat off, past participle beaten off)

1. (transitive) To drive something away with blows or military force. Now often used figuratively.
   • 1697, Carradoc Of Lhancarvan, The history of Wales, page 33:

     ...which Action did not so much grieve the English, as trouble and vex the Picts and Scots, who were incessantly gauled and frequently beat off by these Danish Troops.

2. (intransitive, idiomatic, vulgar, colloquial, chiefly US, Canada) To masturbate, usually a man of himself.
   • 2003, David Burke, The Slangman guide to dirty English: dangerous expressions Americans use, page 13:

     Example 1: "I don't need a girlfriend. I just need some swimsuit catalogs, so I can beat off six or seven times a day."

3. (intransitive, idiomatic, vulgar, colloquial) To waste time.

   I beat off at work all day; I didn't get anything done.

• See Thesaurus:masturbate

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