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 Attorneys for Trump have tried to beat back the suit by calling into question the estate's ownership of the copyright and by also raising a fair use argument. Alana Wise, NPR, 17 Sep. 2024 She’s successfully beaten back charges of hypocrisy and bandwagon feminism, and her star can continue to shine. Constance Grady, Vox, 12 Sep. 2024 In January 1943, as American and Aussie troops in New Guinea began to beat back the Japanese advance, MacArthur announced the recapture of the strategic base of Buna. Tony Perrottet, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Sep. 2024 The fire came the same week that a second contingent of Kenyan police officers arrived in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince as part of a U.N.-backed international security mission to beat back the heavily armed gangs that control at least 80 percent of the city and to allow new elections. Amanda Coletta, Washington Post, 19 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for beat back 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'beat back.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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Cite this Entry

“Beat back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beat%20back. Accessed 21 Sep. 2024.

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