noun
-
a whipping or thrashing, as in punishment
-
a defeat or setback
-
to be difficult to improve upon
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of beating
First recorded in 1200–50; from Middle English betynge; see beat, -ing 1
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:
The home favourite was cut in the final rounds but pushed through and was lifted shoulder high by her team before her biggest win since beating Taylor in Dublin three years ago was announced.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
In Palm Springs, the overnight low was 90 degrees, beating a record of 89 set in 2011.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
Ulta Beauty’s second-quarter profit rose to $282 million, or $6.55 a share, beating analyst expectations of $6.20 a share.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
If Nvidia stumbles, your portfolio, and perhaps the broader economy, is going to take a beating, even if you don’t own the stock.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026
Even if you win a battle, as long as the enemy’s got a heart that’s beating and a brain that’s working, you’d better be prepared for a counterattack.
From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan
Later it took further beatings as they worked out how the 8,000-pound horse could be dragged over dunes and log rollers by actors with ropes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele has previously said his country's prisons are "clean, orderly, free from abuses, unsanitary conditions, beatings, or murders".
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2025
“People don’t have the bandwidth to respond with the kind of outrage that they would when you saw the beatings at Pan Pacific Park,” said Abdullah, referring to the LAPD’s response to protests in 2020.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2025
As one British study titled "Banter, bollockings and beatings" made clear, an often macho culture can prevail, including bizarre induction rituals.
From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2024
Get your share of food, work hard, stay well, stay as clean as possible, avoid beatings.
From "Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps" by Andrea Warren
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.
