put out of misery

put someone out of their misery

to stop someone worrying, usually by giving them information that they have been waiting for. I thought I'd call her with the results today and put her out of her misery.

See also: misery

put something/someone out of their misery

to kill an animal or person because they are in a lot of pain and you want to end their suffering. Both of its back legs were shattered and I figured the kindest thing would be to put it out of its misery with a bullet.

See also: misery

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put someone/something out of their/its misery

1. to kill an animal or person because they are in extreme pain. The horse's leg was badly broken, and the kindest thing was to put it out of its misery. Badly wounded himself, he put a gun in his buddy's hand and asked his friend to put him out of his misery.

2. to end someone's worry or something's suffering. I thought I'd call her with the test results today and put her out of her misery. Business was so bad, they considered bankruptcy to put the company out of its misery.

See also: misery