beat somebody/something to the punchinformal to do or get something before anyone else does 先发制人,抢先做某事[得到某物] Hitachi has beaten its competitors to the punch with its new palmtop. 日立公司抢在其竞争者之前推出了新款掌上电脑。
beat somebody/something to the punch• Master Yehudi had beaten me to the punch again.• Hitachi has beaten their competition to the punch with a new line of mainframe computers.• Bernie, it might be a good idea if you beat them to the punch.
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