Description of situation affecting ruminant? That'll have you beat (9)
I believe the answer is:
cudgelled
'beat' is the definition.
The answer and definition are not the same part of speech. However, adjectives and past participle verbs can sometimes define each other.
I don't understand the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cudgelled that I've seen before include "Clubbed" , "whacked" .)