beat to the punch

verb

To carry out an action before another person is able to do so.

“I was planning to take care of the problem for him, but he beat me to the punch and did it himself.”

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Meanings

verbbeat to the punch (third-person singular simple present beats to the punch, present participle beating to the punch, simple past beat to the punch, past participle beaten to the punch or beat to the punch)

present singular third person beats to the punch · participle present beating to the punch · participle past beaten to the punch

  1. idiomatictransitiveTo carry out an action before another person is able to do so.

    I was planning to take care of the problem for him, but he beat me to the punch and did it himself.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
get the drop on

Translations

Chinese Cantonese 截胡
  • 截胡to do something before somebody else can
Chinese Mandarin 搶先 /抢先, 捷足先登
  • 搶先 /抢先 (qiǎngxiān)to do something before somebody else can
  • 捷足先登 (jiézúxiāndēng)to do something before somebody else can
Finnish ehtiä ensin
  • ehtiä ensinto do something before somebody else can
French devancer, prendre de vitesse
  • devancerto do something before somebody else can
  • prendre de vitesseto do something before somebody else can
  • couper l'herbe sous le piedto do something before somebody else can
  • coiffer au poteauto do something before somebody else can
Hungarian megelőz
  • megelőzto do something before somebody else can
Polish ubiegać, ubiec
  • ubiegaćto do something before somebody else can
  • ubiecto do something before somebody else can
  • uprzedzaćto do something before somebody else can
  • uprzedzićto do something before somebody else can
  • wyprzedzaćto do something before somebody else can
  • wyprzedzićto do something before somebody else can
Russian упреди́ть, опереди́ть
  • упреди́ть (upredítʹ)to do something before somebody else can
  • опереди́ть (operedítʹ)to do something before somebody else can
Spanish ganar de mano, anticipar
  • ganar de manoto do something before somebody else can
  • anticiparto do something before somebody else can
  • ganar por la manoto do something before somebody else can
  • adelantarseto do something before somebody else can
  • atrasarto do something before somebody else can
Cite this entry
APA

beat to the punch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beat%20to%20the%20punch

MLA

“beat to the punch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beat%20to%20the%20punch. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “beat to the punch,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beat%20to%20the%20punch.

Source: beat to the punch on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.