Standard Lemma guide

beat-up

adj · noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

adj

Meaning 1

Worn out by overuse; in a state of disrepair

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An artificially or disingenuously manufactured outcry, usually in the media.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Australia, New-Zealand

Examples

  • 2009, Natasha Robinson, 'James Packer book outrage a beat-up, says Paul Barry', The Australian, Business section “It has been suggested that this is a vicious book, a poisonous book, that it's a disgrace to have written it,” Mr Barry said at today's book launch. “That's a total beat-up."
  • 2009, Michael Cook, 'Is Britain’s stem cell crisis a beat-up?', BioEdge Few areas of science journalism are more susceptible to frothy beat-ups than stem cell research.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

damaged by blows or hard usage

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a battered old car
  • the beaten-up old Ford

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: battered, beaten-up

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Deverbal from beat up.