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.
But the vaccine's power to beat back measles outbreaks starts to crumble when vaccination rates drop low enough. Alyson Hurt, NPR, 28 Feb. 2025 Advertisement Legal experts said subtle modifications to some of the orders reflected attempts by the Trump administration to beat back legal challenges preemptively. Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2025 Afghan commandos were dispatched to Kunduz to beat back the Taliban. Azam Ahmed, New York Times, 24 Dec. 2024 Through Bates, the White House took credit for beating back Trump’s demand for Republicans to shut down the government unless Democrats agreed to a long-term extension of the debt limit. Alexander Bolton, The Hill, 24 Dec. 2024 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 12 Mar. 2025.

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