beat up
A2 informal separable transitive
In simple words
To hurt someone by hitting them a lot.
Literal meaning: To hit someone repeatedly in an upward or sustained motion until they are harmed.
Meanings
1 A2 informal
To physically attack someone, hitting them repeatedly and causing injury.
"Three men beat him up outside the bar and stole his wallet."
"They beat him up and left him by the road."
— Common idiomatic usage; reflects phrasing widely found in journalistic and literary sources such as news reporting.
Grammar: separable
2 B1
idiomatic
informal
To criticize or blame oneself harshly and excessively (reflexive use: 'beat yourself up').
"Don't beat yourself up over one bad exam — you can retake it."
Grammar: separable
Usage notes
Very common in informal speech. Also used reflexively ('beat yourself up') to mean to blame yourself excessively. In this reflexive sense, it is figurative and very frequent.
Commonly used with
someone badly yourself gang bully rival
Forms
Base
beat up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
beats up
he/she/it
Past simple
beat up
yesterday
Past participle
beaten up
have + pp
-ing form
beating up
continuous
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