This is the 4416th most frequent Portuguese word.
batia
"Batia" is the imperfect past tense of the verb "bater," meaning "used to hit" or "was hitting."
Here, 'batia' is used as the past imperfect form of the verb 'bater', meaning 'to knock' or 'to hit', and describes the action of routinely knocking on the door in the past.
Ele batia na porta para chamar atenção.
He was knocking on the door to get attention.
In this sentence, 'batia' signifies the repetitive action of the heart beating in the context of the past, conveying emotion using the past imperfect tense of 'bater'.
O coração dela batia forte de emoção.
Her heart was beating strongly with emotion.
Here, 'batia' is employed metaphorically within the context of competing and achieving, referencing the act of breaking records in the past with the past imperfect form of 'bater'.