make mincemeat of

make mincemeat (out) of (someone or something)

To decisively and severely punish or defeat someone. If he doesn't stop teasing me, I'm going to make mincemeat of him. You better practice for Sunday's match, or your opponent will make mincemeat out of you.

See also: make, mincemeat, of

make mincemeat (out) of someone

 and make hamburger (out) of someone

Fig. to beat or pound someone or something; to treat someone or something roughly. (As if chopping someone up.) If you don't behave, I'll make mincemeat out of you. Do you want Fred to make hamburger out of you?

See also: make, mincemeat, of

make mincemeat of

Also, make hamburger of. Thrash, beat decisively, as in That bully will make mincemeat of my son, or The other team will make hamburger out of us. This idiom alludes to finely chopping up meat. The first term dates from about 1700, the variant from the first half of the 1900s.

See also: make, mincemeat, of

make mincemeat of

defeat decisively or easily in a fight, contest, or argument. informal

See also: make, mincemeat, of

make ˈmincemeat of somebody/something

(informal) defeat somebody completely in a fight, argument, etc.; completely destroy somebody’s argument, theory, etc: France made mincemeat of Portugal, beating them 5 goals to nil. ♢ The professor made mincemeat of the speaker at the conference.

See also: make, mincemeat, of, somebody, something

make mincemeat of

Slang

To destroy utterly: made mincemeat of the opponent's argument.

See also: make, mincemeat, of