beat-up
adjective
dilapidated; in poor condition from use.
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beat-up
American
[beet-uhp]
/ ˈbitˈʌp /
adjective
noun
beat up
British
verb
-
(tr, adverb) to strike or kick (a person), usually repeatedly, so as to inflict severe physical damage
-
informal to reproach oneself
adjective
beat up
Idioms
-
Strike repeatedly, as in She told the police her husband had beaten her up . [ Slang ; first half of 1900s]
-
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This should provide a badly needed injection of adrenaline to the beat-up small business sector.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 8, 2026
Regular, beat-up people know all this in the particular, the wealthy and successful only in the abstract.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025
“It’s a little beat-up, which I like,” Hamilton says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2025
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
There were only two other cars in the parking lot today, a beat-up Toyota and a white pickup.
From "I Survived the Eruption of Mount St. Helens, 1980" by Lauren Tarshis
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
The concern is the idea of Josh Allen, as beat up as he is, putting the team on his back yet again, this time against a rested team and at altitude.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 16, 2026
“I would say that our agent is beat up, he’s bruised, he’s injured, he’s getting treatment,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters Thursday, saying the agency was “thankful that he made it out alive.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 2026
Semiconductor stocks got beat up Tuesday, as did other companies tied to the AI trade.
From Barron's ● Nov. 19, 2025
He had a cast on his arm and he was looking beat up.
From "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
