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.

Free starter pack
Building your French vocabulary?
Get the 100 most common French words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.
Related Words
Explore French by topic