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  • 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
Synonyms

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. worn-out; dilapidated

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Beat up on your division foes and hope for some luck playing the Central and East teams.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2019

Beat up ones might set you back 40 to 60 thousand dollars while the few really nice ones that are properly authenticated go for nearly a million.

From Fox News • Jan. 7, 2019

Beat up and missing its four All-Stars at times, Golden State endured a stretch last month in which it lost seven of 10.

From New York Times • Apr. 14, 2018

A fabulous friend recently said to me, “I’m just so tired of the new national pastime – Beat up a Teacher.”

From Time • Oct. 27, 2014

Beat up, or dinged up, or missing a piece, or tattooed.

From "Okay for Now" by Gary D. Schmidt

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.