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:
If there are racecars, sports cars, and beat-up jalopies alike, are the cars born into their occupation?
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 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
“It’s a little beat-up, which I like,” Hamilton says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2025
Hideo’s bodyguards must have told him about my old, beat-up skateboard.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
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
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
It’s beat up and old, and smells like incense.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 16, 2025
I started changing the beat up a little bit and doing crazy stuff — just trying it and it was working.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2025
“Yeah, you don’t want to beat up a half.”
From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English
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.
