skip a beat

verb

To miss a beat.

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Meanings

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

present singular third person skips a beat · participle present skipping a beat · participle past skipped a beat · past skipped a beat

  1. literallyTo miss a beat.
  2. broadlyTo experience a strong emotion.

    Her heart seemed to skip a beat. "Halte!" the soldier ordered in a stern voice.

    1989, Lois Lowry, Number the stars
    2 more examples

    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

    What set it apart and caused my heart to skip a beat were the words printed where the artist's signature usually goes, […]

    2001, Linda Bremner, love in the mail
  3. broadlyidiomaticTo 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
    1 more example

    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
Cite this entry
APA

skip a beat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skip%20a%20beat

MLA

“skip a beat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skip%20a%20beat. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “skip a beat,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skip%20a%20beat.

Source: skip a beat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.