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Glite Dictionary
to a pulp

to a pulp

15 7.5
Completely crushed or badly damaged by force
  • idiom
  • NSFW
: molido a palos
  • Says he doesn't like finding his boys beat to a pulp and left for dead in empty parking lots.
  • beaten to a pulp
  • pounded to a pulp
  • get beaten to a pulp

I mean, I would want to beat myself to a pulp and I would scream at myself.

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Examples

  • The man just beat me to a pulp.

    Behind the Burly Q (2010)

  • He beat his opponent to a pulp in the boxing match.

  • Beat him to a pulp.

    Absolution (2024)

  • I beat him to a pulp.

    GoodFellas (1990)

  • And if you ever mess with it, I'll beat you to a pulp.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Lying on the floor is his father, beaten to a pulp.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • He beat him to a pulp.

    The Rental (2020)

  • They'll beat him to a pulp.

    Bait (2000)

  • His face was pounded to a pulp.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Towner is near death, beaten to a pulp.

    Fiction book (1995)

Synonyms

brutally
vsto a pulp
  • Offensive
142 6.1

In a cruel or very harsh way that causes harm

is about destroying something so completely it is crushed or ruined
viciously
vsto a pulp
34 5.7

In a cruel and violent way

is about causing total crushing damage rather than just showing cruelty

Antonyms

whole
∞ 1.0

Complete and not broken or divided

intact
304 3.7

Whole and not damaged or missing any parts

How Damaged

to a pulp
  • NSFW
15 7.5
damaged
1 1.1
scuffed
1 3.2
intact
304 3.7

Surface Forms

to a pulp positive

Morphology

to + a + pulp

The meaning 'so severely crushed or damaged' is directly derivable from the constituents: a B1 learner who knows 'pulp' (a moist mash) can infer that something knocked 'to a pulp' is reduced to that mashed state. The pattern 'to a + noun' expressing resulting state is common and the metaphor is transparent across many languages, so prior exposure is not required for comprehension.

Etymology

To a pulp comes from the image of fruit or paper being crushed and mashed into pulp, a wet, soft mess. So when someone or something is beaten or criticized to a pulp, it means they are left 'completely crushed or destroyed'.