The beat occurs as pulse on the beat level, the metric level at which pulses are heard when a basic unit. So the beat is the basic time unit of a piece; when you tap the foot to music, apiece tap occurs as beat. Based on the context, beat might denote either

a onset of a corresponding unit of time, a point eventually, a super moment once the tapping foot hits the floor, or

a complete interval between 2 sequentially taps, thus to say, or

within popular music, the whole sequence of single beats (in the feel of meter, rhythm, groove, or riddim).

No formal definition that defines the correct beat level altogether pieces of music. In case deuce humans tap their feet to a equivalent music however a single taps twice when convenient when the more, neither is wrongly; of these might only become considered in a higher or even lower level than the beat level.

Good deal music is characterized by the sequence of accented & unstressed beats (typically known as "strong" & "weak") unionized into the meter & part indicated by the time signature, the speed of which is determined by the tempo. In a context of the musical time signature, the term "beat" virtually all typically refers to the bottom total — and then around 3/Foursome, virtually all humans would assume the beat to become a 4; that is, a quarter-note, or even crotchet. Musicians typically find that mentally counting the regular series of beats enables the babies to keep synchronised even if a music is non characterized by regular rhythm.

Metrical levels sooner than a beat level come division levels, and slower levels come multiple levels.

The hyperbeat is 1 unit of hypermeter, generally the measure, as is to the hypermeasure what a beat is to a measure. (Stein 2005, p.329)

Watch as well: Break (music), metronome, drum beat.

Source
Stein, Deborah (2005). Engaging Music: Essays around Music Analysis, Gloss. Future York: Oxford University Click. ISBN 0195170105.

es:pulso (música) fr:temps (solfège) ja:拍子 zh:节拍