rough up

verb

roughed up; roughing up; roughs up

informal

: to hit and hurt (someone)

The prisoner claimed that he was roughed up by the guards.

Examples of rough up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Atlanta roughed up the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau, then annihilated the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome. — Jonathan Jones, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2026

The wind will also rough up seas considerably and cause significant beach erosion and coastal flooding at high tide Friday into Saturday. — Mary Gilbert, CNN Money, 24 Sep. 2026

The Marlins roughed up Casey Mize through three innings to take a 5-1 lead, including Otto Lopez's two-run home run, his 11th, in the second. — ABC News, 20 Sep. 2026

Royals right-handed starter Stephen Kolek was roughed up early. — Kansas City Star, 21 June 2026

Rhymes for rough up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup