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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

beat-up

American  

[beet-uhp] / ˈbitˈʌp /

adjective

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

   a beat-up old jalopy.

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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

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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]

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Etymology

Origin of beat-up

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

beat-up beat up

If there are racecars, sports cars, and beat-up jalopies alike, are the cars born into their occupation?

From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026

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

But they’ll get there—in the same way a young car-shopper starts with a beat-up old jalopy, he argued, eventually they’ll walk onto the lot in middle age looking for a pricey new Cadillac.

From Slate ● May 25, 2025

Mr. Rowan had invited him to join everyone at Clive’s, and he’d followed them down the highway in his car—that beat-up Toyota they’d spotted in the parking lot.

From "I Survived the Eruption of Mount St. Helens, 1980" by Lauren Tarshis

Before there was a “Mortal Kombat,” “Street Fighter” resonated because of its simplicity — you have to beat up somebody before they beat you up — and Sakurai doesn’t overthink the game’s primal appeal.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

On the flip side, he said, they keep getting beat up by the ocean and costing taxpayers millions of dollars to repair or replace.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026

“Oh gosh, we’re just getting beat up over this,” Assemblywoman Maureen Hall said, rain pattering her car while she sat parked next to one of the historic homes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 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

“Perhaps, but,” she added meaningfully, “the demons would just as soon beat up the Tang people for no good reason.”

From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep

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