battering

noun

bat·ter·ing ˈba-tə-riŋ

: violent physical abuse that usually involves the act of striking someone repeatedly or heavily in order to cause injury

Feminists turned violence against women, previously a well-kept secret, into a public political issue; made rape, incest, battering and sexual harassment understood as crimes; and got public funding for shelters for battered women.—

The Nation

: a damaging experience or situation : an injury, setback, or defeat

That was the year Canada rebounded from a 28–4 battering in the round-robin to beat the U.S. 17–16 in the championship final …—

Bob Kravitz

While her confidence took a battering [=was damaged], she kept a game face throughout the season.—

Sally Bedell Smith

Examples of battering in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But he’s just inflicted still another battering on his already beleaguered brand that will further undermine its standing in the eyes of advertisers. —

Shawn Tully, Fortune, 6 Sep. 2023 Some of the most intense battering took place on the Central Coast in a Caltrans district that includes Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties, all hit hard this winter. —

Michael Cabanatuan, San Francisco Chronicle, 17 Mar. 2023 And the Kremlin’s image took another battering this week with the apparent death of the mercurial mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin in a crash following what U.S. and other Western officials say was an explosion aboard his private jet. —

Lynsey Chutel, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2023 And the Kremlin’s image took another battering this week with the apparent death of mercurial mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in a crash following what US and other Western officials say was an explosion aboard his private jet. —

Steven Erlanger, BostonGlobe.com, 24 Aug. 2023 Much of the decline came from the appreciation of the dollar combined with turbulent financial markets, with equities taking their worst battering last year since the 2008 financial crisis. —

Chloe Taylor, Fortune, 17 Aug. 2023 The battering marked the first bison-human attack in 13 months at the park. —

Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2023 After years of battering, the garage door looks as pocked as the lunar surface. —

Shannon Larson, BostonGlobe.com, 7 July 2023 With its heavy reliance on tourism, the metropolitan area took an especially brutal battering during the pandemic, posting an unemployment rate of more than 33 percent in April 2020, according to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. —

Author: Laurie McGinley, Anchorage Daily News, 24 May 2021 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'battering.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.