Jump To:

• beat-up
  beat-up

  adjective

  dilapidated; in poor condition from use.
• beat up
  beat up

  verb

  (tr, adverb) to strike or kick (a person), usually repeatedly, so as to inflict severe physical damage

beat-up

American  

[beet-uhp] / ˈbitˈʌp /

adjective

1. Informal. dilapidated; in poor condition from use.

   a beat-up old jalopy.

---

noun

1. the warpwise count of tufts of pile in the warp of carpets.

beat up British  

verb

1. (tr, adverb) to strike or kick (a person), usually repeatedly, so as to inflict severe physical damage

2. informal to reproach oneself

---

adjective

1. worn-out; dilapidated

beat up Idioms  

1. Strike repeatedly, as in She told the police her husband had beaten her up . [ Slang ; first half of 1900s]

2. Also, beat up on . Attack verbally, as in That newspaper article really beat up on the town council . [ Slang ; late 1900s]

---

Etymology

Origin of beat-up

First recorded in 1935–40; adj., noun use of verb phrase beat up

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

beat-up beat up

A beat-up, fourth-seeded Lakers team beating the ascending, fifth-seeded Rockets in the first round won’t top that.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026

By high school it was Dr. Dre, bass rattling the rearview mirror of my beat-up white Monte Carlo—raw, confrontational, impossible to ignore.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026

This should provide a badly needed injection of adrenaline to the beat-up small business sector.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 8, 2026

Sadly, he only sells enough tomes to keep gas in his beat-up van and pursue his calling as Tulsa’s resident “truthstorian,” a blend of journalist and conspiracist.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2025

Anytime Wanda or Moss needed a ride somewhere, Martin was ready with his beat-up Honda.

From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro

What about the team with the best record in the American League: the Tampa Bay Rays, who beat up on big-market bullies in the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox?

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

The success of the bearded, ass-kicking Ranger marked a stunning reversal of fortune for Norris, who grew up a shy, unathletic child, who "used to daydream about being strong...to beat up the bullies".

From Barron's ● Mar. 20, 2026

Barron Trump, 19, contacted UK police from the US after allegedly seeing his friend being "beat up" during a video call last year.

From BBC ● Jan. 26, 2026

Another wrote, “People driving beat up, dime a dozen F150s have ruined it for people who were doing genuine restorations and such.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026

“And if you keep getting beat up on the same road, take a different road.”

From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• batter

---