battre

to beat

verb bah-truh Common

Also means

to hit

Usage Note

Battre is an irregular -re verb: je bats, tu bats, il bat. It covers beating in sport (battre un record), hitting, and also heartbeats (mon cœur bat vite). The reflexive se battre means 'to fight' (physically or figuratively). Battre en retraite (to beat a retreat) is an idiom for backing down.

Examples

"Notre équipe a battu l'autre."

Natural Translation

Our team beat the other.

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