to lick the pants off
- idiom
- Informal
:
derrotar completamente
- The team really licked the pants off their opponents last night.
Examples
-
He tried to lick the pants off his boss with nonstop compliments.
-
She could lick the pants off any of her rivals in a debate.
-
Our team managed to lick the pants off the defending champions.
-
You should see how she licked the pants off everyone in that debate!
-
He tried to lick the pants off his boss with nonstop compliments.
-
Our team managed to lick the pants off the defending champions.
-
The team really licked the pants off their opponents last night.
Synonyms
39
8.2
To defeat someone completely in a game or fight
13
4.2
Say nice things to someone to get what you want
3
7.7
Win easily by a lot against another person or team
1
9.9
To defeat someone completely, often physically or in a game, used in rude speech
To make someone very impressed or be much better than something
To praise someone too much to get their favor in a rude way
Praise or act very friendly toward a boss to get something for yourself
To praise and obey a powerful person to get their support
Antonyms
How Decisive
- NSFW
63
7.5
12
7.2
14
7.5
- Informal
6
4.5
932
2.1
∞
1.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is an informal idiom whose meaning ('defeat thoroughly' or hyperbolically 'flatter/excite someone') cannot be predicted from the literal meanings of 'lick' (to pass the tongue over), 'pants' (trousers), and 'off' (away). Although 'lick' can be slang for 'defeat' in some varieties, the whole construction 'lick the pants off' is a colloquial, culture-specific intensifier and thus not transparently compositional for a B1 learner who only knows the individual words.
Etymology
Lick the pants off probably comes from old slang where lick meant 'to beat', and the picture of someone's pants coming off shows a total victory, so it means 'defeat completely'. Also, because 'to lick' could mean giving strong praise (as in 'to lick someone's boots'), people also use the phrase to mean 'to flatter someone too much'.