beat-up
adjective
dilapidated; in poor condition from use.
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
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
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
“You should make a silly face. It’ll distract from the beat-up look you got going on.”
From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
After the incident, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the agent was "beat up" and "bruised", adding ICE officers were "following protocols that we have used for years" from before the Trump administration.
From BBC ● Jan. 18, 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
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
"Never mind, I am who I am. Just don't beat up your gums at me," I said, throwing him a newly acquired phrase.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
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.
