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Glite Dictionary
to put my lights out

to put my lights out

1 9.9
To make someone fall asleep or become unconscious suddenly
  • phrasal verb
  • Offensive
translation icon : dormirse
  • He really put my lights out with that last punch.

Examples

  • Listening to the rain last night put my lights out almost instantly.

  • One hard punch to the jaw would have put my lights out for sure.

  • The medication was so strong it put my lights out within minutes.

  • Don't put my lights out so quickly!

  • The boxer delivered a strong punch that finally put my lights out.

  • After a long day at work, I was so tired that I felt like someone could easily put my lights out.

  • The medicine was strong enough to put my lights out for several hours.

Synonyms

to knock out
vsto put my lights out
  • NSFW
210 4.3

To make someone unconscious by a hit, illness, or being very tired

is typically sudden and forceful rather than caused by illness or tiredness
to punch someone's lights out
vsto put my lights out
  • Offensive
9.8

Hit someone very hard so they are knocked out

is broader and can mean sudden incapacity not only from violent hitting

Antonyms

to wake up
∞ 1.0

To stop sleeping or make someone else stop sleeping

to revive
71 4.1

To make a person conscious again after fainting

How Unconscious

to put my lights out
  • Offensive
1 9.9
to stun
11 3.0
to daze
2 4.3

Surface Forms

put my lights out infinitive
put my lights out past
put my lights out past participle
putting my lights out present participle
puts my lights out third person singular

Morphology

put + mine + lights + out

The phrase builds on the literal pattern 'put ... out' (extinguish) and 'lights' (illumination), so there is a visible metaphorical mapping where 'lights' stands for consciousness. However, mapping that literal sense onto 'make someone unconscious' is a figurative shift that a B1 learner who only knows the constituents would likely misinterpret as literally turning off lights, so prior exposure is needed.

Etymology

Put my lights out may come from the simple image of switching off a room's lights. When the lights are 'out' the place is dark and quiet, so to put someone's lights out came to mean 'to make them fall asleep or become unconscious'.