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
Voucher supporters beat back a late night attempt to remove the federal school voucher tax shelter language from Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, but the Senate ultimately approved language with some significant differences from the House version.
—
Peter Greene, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025
But those threats were beaten back in the last few years of war, and twice last year, Israel got practice rounds bombing Iran following Iranian missile fire.
—Daniel Estrin, NPR, 25 June 2025
Google spent years beating back legal challenges from authors to its online book library, which included many newer and copyrighted works.
—Matt O'Brien, Christian Science Monitor, 13 June 2025
Democrats were brimming with confidence earlier in the year after beating back billionaire Elon Musk in Wisconsin's high-stakes state Supreme Court race, where the liberal-leaning candidate prevailed.
—Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 11 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for beat back
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Peter Greene, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025
But those threats were beaten back in the last few years of war, and twice last year, Israel got practice rounds bombing Iran following Iranian missile fire.
—Daniel Estrin, NPR, 25 June 2025
Google spent years beating back legal challenges from authors to its online book library, which included many newer and copyrighted works.
—Matt O'Brien, Christian Science Monitor, 13 June 2025
Democrats were brimming with confidence earlier in the year after beating back billionaire Elon Musk in Wisconsin's high-stakes state Supreme Court race, where the liberal-leaning candidate prevailed.
—Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 11 June 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 4 Aug. 2025.
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