A worthless, idle fellow. See also DEAD BEAT.
1889. The original idea of beat was that of a lazy man or a shirk, who would by hook or by crook get rid of all military or fatigue duty that he could; but the term grew to have a broader significance…. It was a sad fate to befall a good duty soldier to get on a detail to procure wood where every second or third man was a shirk or a beat; for while they must needs bear the appearance of doing something, they were really in the way of those who could work and were willing to.—J. D. Billings, ‘Hardtack and Coffee,’ pp. 95, 101.
