Showing results for "beaten"

• past participle of beat.

beaten

American  

[beet-n] / ˈbit n /

adjective

1. formed or shaped by blows; hammered.

   a dish of beaten brass.

2. much trodden; commonly used.

   a beaten path.

3. defeated; vanquished; thwarted.

4. overcome by exhaustion; fatigued by hard work, intense activity, etc.

5. (of food) whipped up, pounded, pulverized, or the like.

   adding three beaten eggs.

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idioms

1. off the beaten track / path, novel; uncommon; out of the ordinary.

   a tiny shop that was off the beaten track.

beaten British  

/ ˈbiːtən /

adjective

1. defeated or baffled

2. shaped or made thin by hammering

   a bowl of beaten gold

3. much travelled; well trodden (esp in the phrase the beaten track )

4. 1. in or into unfamiliar territory

   2. out of the ordinary; unusual

5. (of food) mixed by beating; whipped

6. tired out; exhausted

7. hunting (of woods, undergrowth, etc) scoured so as to rouse game

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Other Word Forms

• underbeaten
  adjective
• well-beaten
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of beaten

before 1100; Middle English beten, Old English bēaten, past participle of bēatan to beat

Explanation

Something that's beaten has been made smooth or thin from repeated impact, like the beaten surface of a silver bracelet, or the beaten path that leads to your hideout in the woods. To make something beaten, you have to beat it — strike or hammer it repeatedly. Food can also be beaten, like the beaten egg whites you put in a cake to make it light and fluffy. In this case, they're stirred with vigor. And when a person is beaten, they're despondent or defeated: "The beaten expression on his face showed how exhausting the last tennis match had been." Beaten comes from beat and its root meaning "to strike."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

beaten

Only four trillion-dollar companies, including Nvidia and Apple, have beaten the S&P 500 this year, but recent rallies have left several looking overbought.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

The host Patriots hadn’t lost a league game since 2017 and had beaten Cleveland 13 consecutive times, by an average score of 40-8.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

Despite the slowdown, global M&A volumes rose by 27% to $4.44 trillion over the first nine months of the year, a total beaten only by the post-Covid surge in deal-making of 2021.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

Francesco Farioli's side were beaten at home by Manchester City in their opening Champions League game.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

We hiked through the sparse woods, making our way carefully down the beaten path we had created that summer, the summer of the mariposas.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall

Related Words

• humbled
• overpowered
• overwhelmed
• routed