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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Jordan, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, beat back a challenge from Democrat Tamie Wilson, an entrepreneur, in a race he was poised to win from the start. Mychael Schnell, The Hill, 6 Nov. 2024 Porter narrowly beat back a challenge by Baugh in 2022. Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2024 Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at the nonprofit KFF, adds that Democrats forged bonds with the hospital industry to beat back nearly 15 years’ worth of efforts by Republicans to repeal the ACA. Max Nesterak, ProPublica, 31 Oct. 2024 The choir leaned over him offering words of motivation, and rain doused the flames as Kirk Franklin marched up to a stage beating back smoke with an orange glow, like sunlight dissolving cloud cover. Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 1 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for beat back 

Dictionary Entries Near beat back

Cite this Entry

“Beat back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beat%20back. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!