battre la ville

\ba.tʁə la vil\

/\ba.tʁə la vil\/ verb

The verdict

“battre la ville” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
15
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Aller de rue en rue.

Corpus desk

Index FR-battre-la-ville · battre la ville · French

battre la ville · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 15 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "B" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for battre la ville
PropertyValue
Headwordbattre la ville
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\ba.tʁə la vil\
Letters15
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « battre la ville » en français

battre la villereste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

battre la ville is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \ba.tʁə la vil\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Aller de rue en rue.".

battre la ville has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is battre la ville, spelled B-A-T-T-R-E- -L-A- -V-I-L-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Aller de rue en rue.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how battre la ville appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Ils battaient la ville depuis trois heures.
  2. On y sentait l’absence de l’homme, la disparition de celui qui est la volonté et la force, sur lequel on compte, même après des semaines de chômage. L’homme sort, bat la ville, finit souvent par rapporter l’indispensable, la croûte qu’on se partage et qui empêche qu’on ne meure.

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "battre la ville"?
"battre la ville" is spelled B-A-T-T-R-E- -L-A- -V-I-L-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ba.tʁə la vil\.
What does "battre la ville" mean?
As a verb, "battre la ville" means: Aller de rue en rue.
How do you pronounce "battre la ville"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "battre la ville" is \ba.tʁə la vil\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "battre la ville" come from?
"battre la ville" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list