clean someone's clock en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
From clean (“to thrash, defeat”) and clock (“face”) as metonym for “guy”, “someone”.
Meanings
-
(idiomatic, informal) To defeat someone decisively, in a physical fight or other competition or negotiation.
Barack Obama cleaned her clock in the debates.
2007 April 28, Carla Marinucci, “Hillary on a roll”, in San Francisco Chronicle, retrieved 07 Oct 2008:The heavily-tattooed Perez never recovered, getting nailed with flush head shots before a clean-up left hook cleaned his clock.
2008 September 27, Jake Donovan, “Vicente Escobedo Rallies, Stops Dominic Salcido In Six”, in BoxingScene.com, retrieved 07 Oct 2008:"When big business goes head to head with unions, the unions clean their clock," said one Republican aide in Congress.
1997 November 12, Richard W. Stevenson, “Executives Say Trade Bill Defeat Will Hurt Economy”, in New York Times, retrieved 07 Oct 2008:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| cleaned someone's clock | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| cleaned someone's clock | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| cleaning someone's clock | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| cleans someone's clock | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Synonyms
trounce · fix someone's clock · wipe the floor with someone
Translations (8)
nl iemand uitschakelen (defeat decisively) · el καθαρίζω κάποιον σαν αβγό (defeat decisively) · ru разма́зать по сте́нке (defeat decisively) · pl pokonywać doszczętnie (defeat decisively) · pl pokonać doszczętnie (defeat decisively) · ru разде́лать под оре́х (defeat decisively) · fr battre à plate couture (defeat decisively) · nl met iemand de vloer aanvegen (defeat decisively)