beatdown

[ beet-doun ]

noun

1. a decisive defeat:

   The team is on its way to the quarterfinals after delivering last night's 12–3 beatdown.

2. a severe beating:

   If you said that to me, you'd get the beatdown of your life.

verb phrase

1. to cause to be subdued, discouraged, or hopeless:

   Never allow yourself to be beaten down by the hardships you face in life.

   Every time someone raises this issue, others beat them down with outraged attacks on their patriotism.

2. to beat physically:

   Protesters had been beaten down by police wielding batons.

3. to persuade (a seller) to lower the price of something:

   His first price was too high, so we tried to beat him down.

Word History and Origins

Origin of beatdown¹

First recorded in 1985–90, for the noun; 1610–20, for the verb

Example Sentences

The Lions continued their rediscovered scoring form in style as they handed out an embarrassing 47-9 beatdown on the Cowboys in front of their own fans in Texas.

From BBC

But as the mightiest the Big Ten had to offer were beaten up Saturday, USC didn’t just look the part of a conference heavyweight in a 48-0 beatdown of Utah State.

From Los Angeles Times

Thorn describes Sharako as a "woman in a man's world, who is not afraid to jump in" especially in her beatdown of Tyland, which Thorn confirms took place in real mud: "It wasn't chocolate syrup. It tasted real . . . I still had filth under my toenails for weeks."

From Salon

The one-acre green space, site of an infamous 1978 police beatdown of Chicano residents, shone like I had never seen before.

From Los Angeles Times

McMurtry tried to capitalize on Trump’s social media beatdown of Massie in 2020 after Massie forced Congress to return to the Capitol and vote in person on the pandemic relief package, potentially exposing his colleagues to the virus and contradicting the wishes of public health experts.

From Seattle Times