Definition of battle-tested
1
: shown to be reliable and effective by being used in war
- A twin-engine medium bomber, the rugged B-25 was battle-tested and easy to fly in bad weather.
- —Otha C. Spencer, Smithsonian Air & Space, August/September 1986
2
: having experienced and been toughened by battle
- battle-tested soldiers
- When the Americans and Saigon finally found an effective counter-insurgency strategy and took control of the countryside from the Viet Cong, Hanoi responded by sending in whole divisions of battle-tested troops.
- —Evan Thomas and John Barry, Newsweek, 16 Nov. 2009
- The Yankees' pen, moreover, is battle-tested. Rivera, and his setup men, lefty Mike Stanton and righties Jeff Nelson and Ramiro Mendoza, have a combined 1.45 ERA over 105 2/3 innings of postseason experience.
- —Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated, 20 Sept. 1999
