beat down
Britishverb
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informal (tr) to force or persuade (a seller) to accept a lower price
I beat him down three pounds
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(intr) (of the sun) to shine intensely; be very hot
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Force or drive down; defeat or subdue. For example, “And finally to beat down Satan under our feet” ( The Book of Common Prayer , 1552). [c. 1400]
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Strike violently, as in the The sun kept beating down on us all day long . [Mid-1800s]
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beat someone down . Make someone lower a price, as in He's always trying to beat us down . Economist Jeremy Bentham used this idiom in 1793: “Thus monopoly will beat down prices.” [ Slang ; late 1700s]
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.
Put the beat down to surging demand for Invisalign and other dental products.
From Barron's • Feb. 5, 2026
The AI-trade, led by Nvidia, was back in vogue to start the week after a recent beat down, but signs of stress from CoreWeave seem to be weighing on sentiment for Tuesday.
From MarketWatch • Nov. 11, 2025
Firefighters are continuing to beat down pockets of smoke and heat under the surface of the ground at the fire outside Ballygawley.
From BBC • Apr. 9, 2025
She needs to bring America into emergency therapy, to lift up and not beat down, unite and not separate.
From Slate • Sep. 8, 2024
And they seemed to beat down the “Dixie” tune with every step.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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.
