beep

1 of 2

verb

ˈbēp 

beeped; beeping; beeps

transitive verb

1

: to cause to sound

beep a horn

2

: to send a message to (someone) with a beeper

Dr. Khoury was beeped to perform an emergency operation at American University Hospital.

—Scot Macleod

intransitive verb

1

: to sound a horn

2

: to make a beep

beep

2 of 2

noun

: a short usually high-pitched sound (as from a horn or an electronic device) that serves as a signal or warning

Examples of beep in a Sentence

Verb

Why did you beep your horn at her?

She beeped at me first.

Something is beeping in the kitchen.

I could hear a beeping noise.

Noun

the beep of a car horn

Please leave a message after the beep.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

With her husband away and her daughter hooked up to a constantly beeping medical device, exasperated Linda (Rose Byrne) may be going out of her mind, but Bronstein puts us squarely inside it, as the walls close in, the ceiling collapses and the floor buckles beneath her. —Peter Debruge, Variety, 24 Jan. 2025

Noisy toys, like whistles, music-playing or beeping toys, babies that talk. —Lanee Lee, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2025

Noun

After a decade, my body reacts in a Pavlovian way to its stimuli, the scroll of torsos, the dopamine of a red dot notification, a three-toned beep that perks you up in your chair. —Mathew Rodriguez, Them, 11 Feb. 2025

Did the machine beep or otherwise indicate clearly when a vacuum/sealing cycle is complete. —Adam Campbell-Schmitt, Bon Appétit, 27 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Verb

from beep-beep, imitative of the sound of a horn, or verbal derivative of beep entry 2

Noun

earlier beep-beep, imitative of the sound of a horn

First Known Use

Verb

1933, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun

1943, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

beep

noun

ˈbēp

: a sound that signals or warns

beep verb