Beating up

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1 A possible confusion
2 Derivative word uses
3 Other meanings
4 Distinguish from

Beating up is systematic punching, or hitting with a blunt instrument, many times, with the design or effect of causing much pain. It often causes widespread heavy bruising, and sometimes more serious damage, sometimes permanent; and psychological damage. Frequently, to abet this beating, one or more accomplices restrain the victim, often two accomplices, by an arm each.

In the USA it is often called "beating up on".

The "up" started as having meaning "completely" or similarly, as in "writing up" or "cleaning up".

In law it is a type of battery (crime).

A severe beating-up is sometimes called "beating to (a) pulp", or less often "pulping".

Slang or euphemistic expressions for beating-up include "doing over", "roughing up", "working over", and "processing".

Beating-up is often used:

To enforce orders.
As punishment.
To prevent the victim from pursuing or raising an alarm.
To prevent the victim from resisting for a while afterwards during handling or transport.
Often, merely because the perpetrators, feeling angry against the victim, lose their mental restraints against violence, for example when security men beat up the tenth uncooperative drunk that they have to eject in the same evening.

[edit] A possible confusion

According to area and likelihood of snakebite, if a hospital receives a casualty who seems to have been beaten up, and those who brought him in do not report an assault, they should bear in mind that some haemolytic types of snake venom can cause widespread internal blood leakage into tissues causing an effect looking like heavy bruising which can fairly closely look like an effect of a severe beating.

[edit] Derivative word uses

Beating-up is familiar enough for metaphorical uses to develop, e.g.:

"Beating oneself up over X" for "feeling badly guilty about X".
"Beat-up old car" or "beaten-up old car" for a car whose bodywork looks battered by time and use, and similar uses with other types of item.
The phrase "beating up" is often misused as a humorous exaggeration for mild forms of personal contact.

[edit] Other meanings

Some out-of-date dictionaries say that "beating up" means "alarming by a sudden attack".
Some dictionaries give a meaning "to get something done". This would be a metaphor from the idea of beating for game.
The words "beat" and "up" may come together with each word keeping its separate meaning, e.g. in describing sailing upwind as in this image.
A beat 'em up is a type of side-scrolling video game where the player(s) face waves of incoming enemies, or "thugs", who they have to dispose of using their fists, legs or occasionally weapons. Examples of beat 'em ups include the 1989 Ninja Turtles game, the Capcom video game Alien Versus Predator, and Double Dragon
Beat Him Up is a song by Helen Love, and an album of 4 songs including that song. [1]