beat up

beat up idiom
  1. Strike repeatedly, as in She told the police her husband had beaten her up. [Slang; first half of 1900s]
  2. Also, beat up on. Attack verbally, as in That newspaper article really beat up on the town council. [Slang; late 1900s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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