beats up

Verb

beat up (third-person singular simple present beats up, present participle beating up, simple past beat up or (nonstandard) beated up, past participle beaten up or (colloquial) beat up or (nonstandard) beated up)

1. (transitive) To give a severe beating to; to assault violently with repeated blows.
   • I got beaten up by thugs on my way home.

   Synonyms:

   do over, rough up, work over

2. (transitive) To wake up earlier than (somebody).
   • I wanted to beat you up this morning and make breakfast for you for once.
3. (obsolete) To attack suddenly; to alarm.
   • At Breach of Wall, or Hedge-ſurprize, ¶ She ſhar’d in th’ hazard and the prize : ¶ At beating quarters up, or forrage, ¶ Behav’d her ſelf with matchleſſe courage ;1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “Canto II”, in Hudibras. The First Part. […], London: […] J. G. for Richard Marriot, […], →OCLC, page 49
4. To cause, by some other means, injuries comparable to the result of being beaten up.
   • He [= a paraglider pilot] flew into a hill and beat himself up pretty badly.2008 October 29, on Real Rescues (a British TV program)
5. (reflexive) To feel badly guilty and accuse (oneself) over something.
   • Don’t beat yourself up over such a minor mistake.
6. To make (someone) feel badly guilty and accuse (them) over something.
   • It's getting louder and louder
     Every time I think about you, about you
     I'll be better off without you, without you
     I wish my heart would stop, wish my heart would stop
     Beating me up (whoa, oh, whoa)
     Beating me up (whoa, oh, whoa)
     Beating me up2015 May 12, Rachel Platten, Dave Bassett, Brian West, “Beating Me Up”, in Fight Song, performed by Rachel Platten

See all 17 meanings of beat up