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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

Neighboring towns looked down on its working-class residents and the beat-up motels along Beach Boulevard, which cleaves the city in half.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 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

“Oh, that’s okay,” I said, trying to slip away, but she waved me over, insisting I take the money she pulled from a small, beat-up change purse and worked into my hand.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx

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

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

“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

“You’re right! If Dobrynya can use it to beat up Sigurd, I can use it to put out some fire!”

From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack

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