Repeatedly hitting or pounding something with force, or a coating of beaten eggs and flour used in cooking.
From Middle English 'bateren' via Old French 'batre' from Latin 'battere' meaning 'to strike.' The cooking sense emerged in the 1600s when the mixture resembled the result of being battered.
Tempura and fish-and-chips batters work because the quick cooking seals the coating, trapping steam inside—this creates a crispy outside and steamy pocket that keeps food tender, a technique perfected over centuries.
Intimate partner violence (domestic battering) has disproportionately targeted women historically. Language normalizing this harm often embedded gendered power dynamics.
When discussing relationship violence, center victim experiences and safety without implicit gender assumptions. Use 'intimate partner violence' or 'domestic abuse' for precision.
["pummeling","striking","beating"]
Women's shelters and advocates pioneered terminology and frameworks defining battering as systemic abuse; their work reframed this from private shame to public accountability.
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