Verbally, gents perhaps take a beating (4)
I believe the answer is:
lose
'take a beating' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'verbally gents' is the wordplay.
'verbally' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'gents' becomes 'loos' (gents toilets).
'loos' is a homophone of 'LOSE'.
'perhaps' is the link.
(Other definitions for lose that I've seen before include "Fail to win" , "go down" , "Suffer a defeat" , "Shake off (a pursuer)" , "Don't win" .)