beat to the punch
English
Verb
beat 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)
- (transitive) To do something before somebody else is able to.
- I was planning to take care of the problem for him, but he beat me to the punch and did it himself.
Usage notes
The object often goes between the verb and the preposition, as in "You beat me to it."
Derived terms
Translations
to do something before somebody else can
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See also
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