wound (redirected from wounded)

lick one's wounds

Fig. to recover from a defeat or a rebuke. (Also literal for an animal.) After the terrible meeting and all the criticism, I went back to my office to lick my wounds.

See also: lick

rub salt in a wound

Fig. to deliberately make someone's unhappiness, shame, or misfortune worse. Don't rub salt in the wound by telling me how enjoyable the party was. Bill is feeling miserable about losing his job and Bob is rubbing salt into the wound by saying how good his replacement is.

See also: rub, salt

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lick your wounds

to feel unhappy after a defeat or an unpleasant experience

Usage notes: When dogs and other animals are injured, they lick their wounds (= injuries) in order to help them get better.

After retiring to lick its wounds, the party is regaining its confidence.

See kiss arse, knock into shape

See also: lick

open/reopen old wounds

to make someone remember an unpleasant event or situation that happened in the past For many soldiers who served in Vietnam, the current conflict has reopened old wounds.

See also: old, open

rub salt in/into the wound

to make a difficult situation even worse for someone Losing was bad enough, having to watch them receiving the trophy just rubbed salt into the wound.

See also: rub, salt

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lick your wounds

to avoid or ignore other people after an unpleasant experience Mary's film career was a failure, and she went home to lick her wounds in private.

Etymology: based on the idea of an injured animal that licks its wounds (cleans an injury with its tongue)

See also: lick

rub salt into somebody's wounds

to make someone feel even worse about something rub it in It's too bad Charlie couldn't come, but let's not tell him they let us in for free - there's no point rubbing salt into his wounds.

See also: rub, salt