battered

adjective

bat·​tered ˈba-tərd 

1

: damaged or worn down by hard use

a battered old hat

a battered truck

2

: injured by repeated blows

the victim's battered body

a boxer's battered face

3

: subjected to repeated physical abuse

providing help for battered wives/children

… the store turned into an impromptu women's crisis center, where battered women and mothers trying to rescue their daughters from abusive dads gravitated.

—Donna Minkowitz

Examples of battered in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Miami Marlins went with a bullpen game Tuesday, their only option with a battered pitching staff. —Danielle Allentuck, Washington Post, 3 June 2026

Israeli military warning rattles coastal city Israeli strikes over southern Lebanon continued, especially in and around the battered cities of Tyre and Nabatiyeh. —Kareem Chehayeb, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2026

But at The Post, the promise of reinvention-or-bust under Will Lewis came with a battered newsroom, a mass exodus of talent, a flood of scandals, lots of internal turmoil — and a business still in real trouble. —Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 3 June 2026

The Twins recovered from a 2-13 stretch in April to briefly take a piece of the American League Central lead, but who knows how many rallies this battered roster has in it? —John Shipley, Twin Cities, 1 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1593, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing battered

• battered child syndrome
• battered woman syndrome

Rhymes for battered

• backscattered
• chattered
• clattered
• flattered
• mattered
• pattered
• scattered
• shattered
• spattered
• splattered
• tattered