"knock the living daylights out of" meaning in English

See knock the living daylights out of in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: En-au-knock the living daylights out of.ogg Forms: knocks the living daylights out of [present, singular, third-person], knocking the living daylights out of [participle, present], knocked the living daylights out of [participle, past], knocked the living daylights out of [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*|head=knock the living daylights out of}} knock the living daylights out of (third-person singular simple present knocks the living daylights out of, present participle knocking the living daylights out of, simple past and past participle knocked the living daylights out of)
  1. (idiomatic) To beat or strike someone. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-knock_the_living_daylights_out_of-en-verb-T5Yn0Ql6
  2. (idiomatic) To thoroughly and decisively defeat someone in a physical fight, especially by knocking out that person. Tags: idiomatic Categories (topical): Violence Synonyms: clobber, beat the daylights out of, knock the daylights out of
    Sense id: en-knock_the_living_daylights_out_of-en-verb-q9qkdnsX Disambiguation of Violence: 8 84 8 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 4 91 5 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 5 85 10 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 5 91 5
  3. (figurative) To greatly excel against (someone or something). Tags: figuratively
    Sense id: en-knock_the_living_daylights_out_of-en-verb-I3sfd4bQ

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "knocks the living daylights out of",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "knocking the living daylights out of",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "knocked the living daylights out of",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "knocked the living daylights out of",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*",
        "head": "knock the living daylights out of"
      },
      "expansion": "knock the living daylights out of (third-person singular simple present knocks the living daylights out of, present participle knocking the living daylights out of, simple past and past participle knocked the living daylights out of)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1939, Ruth McKenney, Industrial Valley, →ISBN, page 255:",
          "text": "Boy, the fellows said he just knocked the living daylights out of him, bounced him six feet across the ground.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To beat or strike someone."
      ],
      "id": "en-knock_the_living_daylights_out_of-en-verb-T5Yn0Ql6",
      "links": [
        [
          "beat",
          "beat"
        ],
        [
          "strike",
          "strike"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To beat or strike someone."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "4 91 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "5 85 10",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "5 91 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 84 8",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Violence",
          "orig": "en:Violence",
          "parents": [
            "Human behaviour",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1954, Denzil Batchelor, Big Fight: The Story of World Championship Boxing, →OCLC, page 65:",
          "text": "He won the English championship from the six-foot-three-inch, seventeen-stone Sam Hurst, the Staleybridge Infant, knocking the living daylights out of this champion",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To thoroughly and decisively defeat someone in a physical fight, especially by knocking out that person."
      ],
      "id": "en-knock_the_living_daylights_out_of-en-verb-q9qkdnsX",
      "links": [
        [
          "thoroughly",
          "thoroughly"
        ],
        [
          "decisively",
          "decisively"
        ],
        [
          "knocking out",
          "knock out"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To thoroughly and decisively defeat someone in a physical fight, especially by knocking out that person."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "0 85 15",
          "word": "clobber"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 85 15",
          "word": "beat the daylights out of"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 85 15",
          "word": "knock the daylights out of"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1963, “10 second summary”, in Business Management, volume 25, page 38:",
          "text": "...where new and better depreciation regulations and a 7% business investment credit knocked the living daylights out of normal and historical accounting procedures...",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To greatly excel against (someone or something)."
      ],
      "id": "en-knock_the_living_daylights_out_of-en-verb-I3sfd4bQ",
      "links": [
        [
          "excel",
          "excel"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) To greatly excel against (someone or something)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-knock the living daylights out of.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/dd/En-au-knock_the_living_daylights_out_of.ogg/En-au-knock_the_living_daylights_out_of.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/En-au-knock_the_living_daylights_out_of.ogg"
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  "word": "knock the living daylights out of"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "en:Violence"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "knocks the living daylights out of",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "knocking the living daylights out of",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "knocked the living daylights out of",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "knocked the living daylights out of",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*",
        "head": "knock the living daylights out of"
      },
      "expansion": "knock the living daylights out of (third-person singular simple present knocks the living daylights out of, present participle knocking the living daylights out of, simple past and past participle knocked the living daylights out of)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1939, Ruth McKenney, Industrial Valley, →ISBN, page 255:",
          "text": "Boy, the fellows said he just knocked the living daylights out of him, bounced him six feet across the ground.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To beat or strike someone."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "beat",
          "beat"
        ],
        [
          "strike",
          "strike"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To beat or strike someone."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1954, Denzil Batchelor, Big Fight: The Story of World Championship Boxing, →OCLC, page 65:",
          "text": "He won the English championship from the six-foot-three-inch, seventeen-stone Sam Hurst, the Staleybridge Infant, knocking the living daylights out of this champion",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To thoroughly and decisively defeat someone in a physical fight, especially by knocking out that person."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "thoroughly",
          "thoroughly"
        ],
        [
          "decisively",
          "decisively"
        ],
        [
          "knocking out",
          "knock out"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To thoroughly and decisively defeat someone in a physical fight, especially by knocking out that person."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1963, “10 second summary”, in Business Management, volume 25, page 38:",
          "text": "...where new and better depreciation regulations and a 7% business investment credit knocked the living daylights out of normal and historical accounting procedures...",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To greatly excel against (someone or something)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "excel",
          "excel"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) To greatly excel against (someone or something)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-knock the living daylights out of.ogg",
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/En-au-knock_the_living_daylights_out_of.ogg"
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  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "clobber"
    },
    {
      "word": "beat the daylights out of"
    },
    {
      "word": "knock the daylights out of"
    }
  ],
  "word": "knock the living daylights out of"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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