beat up on sb
US informal— phrasal verb with beat uk/biːt/us/biːt/verb beat, beaten or US also beat
to hurt someone by hitting or kicking them many times:
Kids used to beat up on him after school.
to criticize someone unfairly:
She didn’t like being beaten up on by the press.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Hitting and beating
- a bunch of fives idiom
- a rap on/over the knuckles idiom
- at-risk
- bang up sb/sth
- bashing
- deck
- kick
- knock
- knock sb's block off idiom
- lay
- lay sb out
- licking
- mess sb up
- pasting
- pound
- pummel
- put the boot in idiom
- swing
- thump
- whack
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Disapproving & criticizing