Idioms

bump someone off

bump off

1. To unexpectedly remove someone from something, often a list or schedule. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "bump" and "off." I'm staying in Denver another night because I got bumped off my flight. Unfortunately, we ran out of time during tonight's show and had to bump our musical guest off. Excuse me, how can the airline just bump off a first-class passenger?
2. To cause one to abruptly lose one's Internet or other connection. No, the page didn't load because I got bumped off the Internet. Back when we had dial-up Internet, just picking up the phone would bump you off your connection. I'm so sorry, our power went out for a minute there and bumped me offline.
3. slang To kill someone. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "bump" and "off." Ray bumped off the informant, just as the boss told him to. An attack that large could bump us all off. By shooting at each other in such a crowded area, those thugs could have easily bumped off an innocent bystander.
See also: bump, off
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

bump someone off

tv. to kill someone. (Originally underworld.) What am I supposed to do, bump her off?
See also: bump, off, someone
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive
But given that most murderers, and not just firearm-toting grannies, presumably do not bump someone off with a view to getting caught, how would the police go about solving the 'perfect' murder?
It brings in the bigger hits, whereas at the moment you just can't bump someone off the ball, when one of your team-mates is going for it.
She can also go into a worrying amount of detail about the best way to bump someone off using whatever weapons you have to hand.
Does anyone really believe that if the secret services wanted to bump someone off, they would engineer a road accident that was not certain to result in the death of the target?
A manual on how to bump someone off, Hit Man provided crucial instructions to James Perry, who was hired by Lawrence Horn to kill his ex-wife, their 8-year-old paraplegic son and his nurse.
CRAIG: I've never been tempted to bump someone off - honest.
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