to beat the air
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To strike out at nothing, merely to bring one's muscles into play, as pugilists do before they begin to fight; to toil without profit; to work to no purpose.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to beat the air” mean?
To strike out at nothing, merely to bring one's muscles into play, as pugilists do before they begin to fight; to toil without profit; to work to no purpose.
Is “to beat the air” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.