beat the crowd

English

Verb

beat the crowd (third-person singular simple present beats the crowd, present participle beating the crowd, simple past beat the crowd, past participle beaten the crowd or (colloquial) beat the crowd)

1. (informal, idiomatic) To arrive at a location or complete a task before a large group of people do so.
   • 2007, Shunna Pillay, Shadow People, page 134:

     Dhava beat the crowd to the sweets counter and was back within minutes with two boxes of Black Magic chocolates, which he handed to Sharda.