"open a can of whoop ass" meaning in English

See open a can of whoop ass in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: En US whoopass.wav , En-au-open a can of whoop ass.ogg Forms: opens a can of whoop ass [present, singular, third-person], opening a can of whoop ass [participle, present], opened a can of whoop ass [participle, past], opened a can of whoop ass [past], open a can of whup ass [alternative], open a can of whoop-ass [alternative], open up a can of whoop ass [alternative], open up a can of whoop-ass [alternative]
Etymology: From English whoop (variant of whip) + ass. Head templates: {{en-verb|*|head=open a can of whoop ass}} open a can of whoop ass (third-person singular simple present opens a can of whoop ass, present participle opening a can of whoop ass, simple past and past participle opened a can of whoop ass)
  1. (idiomatic, slang, vulgar, US) A good-humored threat of physical harm. Tags: US, idiomatic, slang, vulgar Synonyms: break out a can of kick-ass, break out a can of whoop ass, break out a can of whoop-ass, bust open a can of kick-ass, bust open a can of whoop ass, bust open a can of whoop-ass, open a can of kick-ass, open up a can of kick-ass
    Sense id: en-open_a_can_of_whoop_ass-en-verb-SKBWtX1~ Categories (other): American English, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_text": "From English whoop (variant of whip) + ass.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "opens a can of whoop ass",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "opening a can of whoop ass",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "opened a can of whoop ass",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "opened a can of whoop ass",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "open a can of whup ass",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "open a can of whoop-ass",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "open up a can of whoop ass",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "open up a can of whoop-ass",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*",
        "head": "open a can of whoop ass"
      },
      "expansion": "open a can of whoop ass (third-person singular simple present opens a can of whoop ass, present participle opening a can of whoop ass, simple past and past participle opened a can of whoop ass)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I'm gonna open up a can of whoop-ass on ya.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998, Robert Fletcher, “No rush to see new Chan”, in University Wire:",
          "text": "Chan stars in his first all-American production as chan as Hong Kong Detective Inspector Lee, a noble, innocent and caring police officer who can really bust open a can of whoop-ass when given the chance.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A good-humored threat of physical harm."
      ],
      "id": "en-open_a_can_of_whoop_ass-en-verb-SKBWtX1~",
      "links": [
        [
          "threat",
          "threat#English"
        ],
        [
          "physical",
          "physical#English"
        ],
        [
          "harm",
          "harm#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, slang, vulgar, US) A good-humored threat of physical harm."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "break out a can of kick-ass"
        },
        {
          "word": "break out a can of whoop ass"
        },
        {
          "word": "break out a can of whoop-ass"
        },
        {
          "word": "bust open a can of kick-ass"
        },
        {
          "word": "bust open a can of whoop ass"
        },
        {
          "word": "bust open a can of whoop-ass"
        },
        {
          "word": "open a can of kick-ass"
        },
        {
          "word": "open up a can of kick-ass"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "idiomatic",
        "slang",
        "vulgar"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En US whoopass.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/36/En_US_whoopass.wav/En_US_whoopass.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/36/En_US_whoopass.wav/En_US_whoopass.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-open a can of whoop ass.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/6b/En-au-open_a_can_of_whoop_ass.ogg/En-au-open_a_can_of_whoop_ass.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/En-au-open_a_can_of_whoop_ass.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "open a can of whoop ass"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "From English whoop (variant of whip) + ass.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "opens a can of whoop ass",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "opening a can of whoop ass",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "opened a can of whoop ass",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "opened a can of whoop ass",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "open a can of whup ass",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "open a can of whoop-ass",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "open up a can of whoop ass",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "open up a can of whoop-ass",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*",
        "head": "open a can of whoop ass"
      },
      "expansion": "open a can of whoop ass (third-person singular simple present opens a can of whoop ass, present participle opening a can of whoop ass, simple past and past participle opened a can of whoop ass)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English slang",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English verbs",
        "English vulgarities",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I'm gonna open up a can of whoop-ass on ya.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998, Robert Fletcher, “No rush to see new Chan”, in University Wire:",
          "text": "Chan stars in his first all-American production as chan as Hong Kong Detective Inspector Lee, a noble, innocent and caring police officer who can really bust open a can of whoop-ass when given the chance.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A good-humored threat of physical harm."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "threat",
          "threat#English"
        ],
        [
          "physical",
          "physical#English"
        ],
        [
          "harm",
          "harm#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, slang, vulgar, US) A good-humored threat of physical harm."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "idiomatic",
        "slang",
        "vulgar"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En US whoopass.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/36/En_US_whoopass.wav/En_US_whoopass.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/36/En_US_whoopass.wav/En_US_whoopass.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-open a can of whoop ass.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/6b/En-au-open_a_can_of_whoop_ass.ogg/En-au-open_a_can_of_whoop_ass.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/En-au-open_a_can_of_whoop_ass.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "break out a can of kick-ass"
    },
    {
      "word": "break out a can of whoop ass"
    },
    {
      "word": "break out a can of whoop-ass"
    },
    {
      "word": "bust open a can of kick-ass"
    },
    {
      "word": "bust open a can of whoop ass"
    },
    {
      "word": "bust open a can of whoop-ass"
    },
    {
      "word": "open a can of kick-ass"
    },
    {
      "word": "open up a can of kick-ass"
    }
  ],
  "word": "open a can of whoop ass"
}

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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 2025-02-22 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-02-02 using wiktextract (9e2b7d3 and f2e72e5). 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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