beat up

Formsbeats up, beating up, beat up, beaten up

Pluralbeat ups, beat-ups

1. 1
   phrasal verbtransitive

   To hit someone again and again and hurt them badly.

   Two older boys beat up my brother after school.

   The police caught the men who beat him up.

   Similarassault, attack, thrash, batter

   Note
2. 2
   feel guiltyphrasal verbreflexivetransitive

   To feel very guilty and blame yourself for something.

   She beat herself up for days over forgetting her friend's birthday.

   Stop beating yourself up about the test. You did your best.

3. 3
   badly wornadjective · beat-upcolloquial

   Old, damaged, and in bad shape from a lot of use.

   He drives a beat-up old truck with a broken door.

   My beat-up sneakers have holes in both toes.

   Similarbattered, worn, shabby, tattered

   Oppositepristine, new

   Note
4. 4
   injure badlyphrasal verbtransitive

   To hurt someone or yourself badly, as if in a fight, but in another way, like a fall.

   She fell down the stairs and beat herself up so badly that she needed stitches.

   That bike crash really beat him up. He had cuts all over his arms.

   Similarbatter

   Note
5. 5
   criticizephrasal verbtransitive

   To make someone feel very guilty by blaming them for something.

   Please stop beating me up about the broken vase. I already said I was sorry.

   Grandma beats us up about it every time we forget to call her on Sunday.

   Similartorment

   Note
6. 6
   nouncountable

   A time when someone is beaten, or treated roughly as a new member of a group.

   The older boys planned a beat up for the new kid on his first night at camp.

   After the beat up in the parking lot, he had a black eye for a week.

   Similarbeating, thrashing

   Note
7. 7
   media scarenounAustraliaNew ZealandUKcountable

   A fuss or scare that is stirred up on purpose, often by newspapers or TV.

   The mayor said the story about her expenses was just a media beat up.

   Most people knew the shark scare was a beat up, but the beaches stayed empty anyway.

   Similarscare

   Note
8. 8
   sail into windphrasal verbintransitive

   To sail a boat toward the wind by turning one way and then the other, again and again.

   The little boat had to beat up against the wind to get back to the beach.

   We beat up toward the island for hours, turning every few minutes.

   Similartack

   Note
9. 9
   battered personnouncountable

   A person who has been beaten up, or a thing that has been badly damaged by hard use.

   Well, two beat ups (the bullied kids) would split that cash fifty-fifty.

   2009, Thomas Cody Mullenaux, NumbskullHere, beat ups means kids who get beaten up or bullied.
10. 10
    wake earlierphrasal verbtransitive

    To wake up earlier than someone else.

    My little sister always beats me up on Christmas morning and has opened her stocking by six.

    Dad beat us all up this morning and had pancakes ready when we came downstairs.

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