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

Example Sentences

Each one was decorated with a sketch at the very beginning, which was different from the beat-up copy he’d carried with him everywhere.

From Literature

His dad carried a beat-up cell phone on a lanyard around his neck so he could get to it without having to reach into his pocket.

From Literature

By high school it was Dr. Dre, bass rattling the rearview mirror of my beat-up white Monte Carlo—raw, confrontational, impossible to ignore.

From The Wall Street Journal

This should provide a badly needed injection of adrenaline to the beat-up small business sector.

From MarketWatch

Regular, beat-up people know all this in the particular, the wealthy and successful only in the abstract.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• batter