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:
A TV commercial featured two guys in a beat-up muscle car ogling a Ram truck at a stoplight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
If there are racecars, sports cars, and beat-up jalopies alike, are the cars born into their occupation?
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026
A beat-up, fourth-seeded Lakers team beating the ascending, fifth-seeded Rockets in the first round won’t top that.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
This should provide a badly needed injection of adrenaline to the beat-up small business sector.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 8, 2026
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
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
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
Barron Trump, 19, contacted UK police from the US after allegedly seeing his friend being "beat up" during a video call last year.
From BBC ● Jan. 26, 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
Even though he was beat up, dirty, and stooped with exhaustion, he’d had an aura of power.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
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.
