battering

noun

bat·ter·ing | \ ˈba-tə-riŋ

Definition of battering

1 : 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

2 : 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 That's good news for ice anglers, aquatic life that depends on ice cover and shorelines that could use a break from the battering of waves, although the Great Lakes shipping industry prefers low ice for an easier start to the season in late March. — Brooks Johnson, Star Tribune, "Cold weather, cold water: Lake Superior adding ice fast," 15 Feb. 2021 On Sunday in Super Bowl LV at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium, against the relentless Kansas City Chiefs, Brady will burden his Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a backyard battering. — Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, "Column: Chiefs will batter Tom Brady and Bucs in Super Bowl LV blowout," 6 Feb. 2021 Countries that are reliant on tourism, such as Portugal, Greece, Spain and Cyprus, have also faced a battering. — Emma Reynolds, CNN, "Europe's social safety net is often considered the gold standard. Coronavirus has exposed its holes," 6 Dec. 2020 The virus has killed more Californians on each of the last two days than any other day throughout the course of the entire pandemic — a back-to-back battering that has propelled the state’s total death toll past 25,000. — Luke Money, Los Angeles Times, "Ambulance scarcity, long 911 response times: COVID pushes L.A. County to ‘brink of catastrophe’," 31 Dec. 2020 The department also includes the Federal Aviation Administration, whose reputation took a battering after the deadly crashes of two new 737 Max jets. — Washington Post, "Biden to name Pete Buttigieg as transportation secretary," 15 Dec. 2020 In the end, despite unprecedented battering by the losing side, the democratic system held. — Los Angeles Times, "Column: Quite soon, 2020 will be history — will we learn from it?," 10 Dec. 2020 The coronavirus pandemic has inflicted an economic battering on state and local governments, shrinking tax receipts by hundreds of billions of dollars. — New York Times, "In Blue States and Red, Pandemic Upends Public Services and Jobs," 4 Dec. 2020 But the battering was a bit more than anticipated, especially on Wednesday evening. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Santa Ana winds to build again across inland San Diego County after cutting power," 3 Dec. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'battering.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.