beat the hell out of

(redirected from beat the pants off someone)

beat the hell out of someone

and beat the living daylights out of someone ; beat the pants off (of) someone; beat the shit out of someone; beat the socks off (of) someone; beat the stuffing out of someone; beat the tar out of someone

1. Fig. to defeat someone very badly. (Caution: the use of the word shit is considered vulgar and is offensive to many people. Of is usually retained before pronouns.) Our team beat the hell out of the other side. We beat the stuffing out of the other side.

2. Fig. Inf. to batter someone severely. (Alludes to physical violence, not the removal of someone's pants. Of is usually retained before pronouns.) The thugs beat the living daylights out of their victim. If you do that again, I'll beat the pants off of you. Before the boxing match Max said he would beat the socks off Lefty.

beat the hell out of somebody

1. to hit someone hard and repeatedly Bill beat the hell out of me after we started arguing over a girl.

2. to completely defeat someone It's a thrill to beat the hell out of another team in front of 20,000 screaming fans.

Related vocabulary: (it) beats me

beat the hell out of something

to be much better than something It wasn't much of a plan, but it beat the hell out of sitting around the office waiting for something to happen.