Jump to:

• 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.

---

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

---

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]

---

Etymology

Origin of beat-up

First recorded in 1935–40; adj., noun use of verb phrase beat up

Example Sentences

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 • Feb. 2, 2026

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

From MarketWatch • Jan. 8, 2026

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

Finally, Lewis bought his cousin a beat-up Plymouth and loaned Swaggart his backup musicians and studio time to record a gospel album.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 1, 2025

But the last thing on earth I plan to do is go digging through the pictures in Cletus’s beat-up vinyl suitcase so we can collaborate, as he puts it.

From "Missing May" by Cynthia Rylant

Related Words

• batter