daylight (redirected from saw daylight)

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.

See also: beat, hell, out

begin to see daylight

Fig. to begin to see the end of a long task. I've been working on my thesis for two years, and at last I'm beginning to see daylight. I've been so busy. Only in the last week have I begun to see daylight.

See also: begin, see

daylight robbery

Fig. the practice of blatantly or grossly overcharging. It's daylight robbery to charge that amount of money for a hotel room! The cost of renting a car at that place is daylight robbery.

See also: robbery

frighten the hell out of someone and frighten the pants off someone; frighten the living daylights out of someone; scare the living daylights out of someone; scare the shit out of someone; scare the wits out of someone

to frighten someone badly, suddenly or both. (Use of hell and shit are crude.) These figures frighten the hell out of me. The door blew shut and scared the shit out of me. It takes a lot to scare the pants off a hardened criminal.

See also: frighten, hell, out

in broad daylight

in the open light of day; clearly visible. The crime was committed in broad daylight. Bill stood there in broad daylight, but we never saw him.

See also: broad

knock the (living) daylights out of someone

Fig. Inf. to beat someone severely. If you do that again, I will knock the living daylights out of you. Fred wants to knock the living daylights out of his enemy, Mike "Fingers" Moran.

See also: knock, out

---

beat/knock the (living) daylights out of somebody

to hit someone very hard many times I'll knock the living daylights out of him if I catch him doing it again!

See also: beat, out

daylight robbery  (British, American & Australian) also highway robbery (American & Australian)

a situation in which you are charged much more for something than you think you should have to pay Three pounds for an orange juice? It's daylight robbery!

See also: robbery

frighten/scare the (living) daylights out of somebody

to frighten someone very much Don't come up behind me like that. You scared the living daylights out of me!

See also: frighten, out

frighten/scare the hell out of somebody   (informal)

to make someone feel very frightened He drives like a madman - frightens the hell out of me.

See also: frighten, hell, out

in broad daylight

if a crime is committed in broad daylight, it happens during the day when it could easily have been seen and prevented The man was shot at close range in broad daylight in front of his house.

See also: broad

---

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

See also: beat, hell, out

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.

See also: beat, hell, out

in broad daylight

when anyone can see what is happening These robberies took place in broad daylight and not one person has been arrested for them!

Usage notes: often used to show great surprise that something evil could be done without any effort to hide it

See also: broad