Learn English – what does the preposition “up” mean in “He got beaten up by other kids in school”

meaningphrase-meaning

Many times I heard people say that "beat up someone". But on the internet, I can only found this definition which does not seem matching with the word beat up in the above sentence

"beat-up:(of a thing) worn out by overuse; in a state of disrepair." https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=what+is+beat+up

So, what does the preposition "up" mean in "He got beaten up by other kids in school"?

Note:
"beat" means "strike repeatedly" & "beat up" also means "strike repeatedly". So, "up" should have a certain meaning and what is the difference between "beat" and "beat up"?

Best Answer

Up as a particle in verbal idioms often has an energetic or intensive sense, roughly equivalent to something on the order of "thoroughly" or "purposefully". Some examples:

act up, beat up, break up, clean up, dress up, eat up, 'fess up, fill up, gang up, head up, jazz up, mess up, mix up, open up, pair up, rub up, sober up, screw up, shut up, team up, use up, wrap up.

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