beat at

beat at something

to strike out at something. He beat at his attacker to no avail. Lily beat at the snake, but didn't harm it.

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Gethsemane	geth-SEM-ə-nee (English)	Biblical
Antal	-	Hungarian
Annas	['ænəs]
Bricius	-	Ancient Celtic (Latinized)
Alannah	ə-LAN-ə (English)	English (Modern), Irish
Elsabeth	-	English (Rare)