beat back
phrasal verb
beat back; beaten back or beat back; beating back; beats back
: to force (someone) to go back or to retreat by fighting
Our troops were beaten back by enemy forces.
Police used batons to beat the protesters back.
Examples of beat back in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Governors in Oregon and Illinois have beaten back his planned military deployments in their states.
—
Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Oct. 2025
My grandfather used to use a wooden walking stick and beat back the nettles—just savage them.
—Michael Schulman, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2025
Cohen beat back primary challengers in his first campaigns for the 9th congressional district, who argued that the majority-Black seat deserved Black representation.
—David Weigel, semafor.com, 8 Oct. 2025
There are many new information sources with which frontline producers already are beating back climate change or adapting to it at the very least.
—Felipe Arango, Sourcing Journal, 26 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for beat back
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Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Oct. 2025
My grandfather used to use a wooden walking stick and beat back the nettles—just savage them.
—Michael Schulman, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2025
Cohen beat back primary challengers in his first campaigns for the 9th congressional district, who argued that the majority-Black seat deserved Black representation.
—David Weigel, semafor.com, 8 Oct. 2025
There are many new information sources with which frontline producers already are beating back climate change or adapting to it at the very least.
—Felipe Arango, Sourcing Journal, 26 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for beat back
Cite this Entry
“Beat back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beat%20back. Accessed 21 Oct. 2025.
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