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:
That summer, a teenage Eusebio also joined Guttmann's squad and steered them to European glory once more, seeing off Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-final before beating the great Real Madrid in the competition's showpiece.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
Morgan Stanley’s shares closed down 2.75%, despite the bank posting higher profit and beating Wall Street estimates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
It means the company remains as Europe’s largest by market cap, beating behemoths like LVMH.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
Those promising youngsters won the title and then went all the way in the European Cup, beating Barcelona in the 1961 final.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
They were passing through a particularly fine square, with a fountain in the form of a mermaid in the center, when there was a noise overhead, of beating wings, and the sky called Nighthand’s name.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
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
Cook took bruises and beatings during his investigations, which saw him tackle injustice and stand up for victims of crime.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
“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.
