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Glite Dictionary
to punch someone's lights out

to punch someone's lights out

9.8
Hit someone very hard so they are knocked out
  • idiom
  • Offensive
translation icon : noquear
  • If he insults me again, I'll punch his lights out.

Examples

  • She warned her brother not to tease her or she would punch his lights out.

  • He's always bragging that he could punch anyone's lights out in a fight.

  • Don't punch someone's lights out!

  • He punched someone's lights out last night.

  • If he keeps talking back to me, I'll punch his lights out to teach him a lesson.

  • After receiving a few harsh insults, she threatened to punch his lights out in front of everyone.

  • He said he could easily punch someone's lights out if they got in his way.

Synonyms

to knock out
vsto punch someone's lights out
  • NSFW
210 4.3

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

focuses on a forceful angry strike meant to cause unconsciousness in revenge
to put my lights out
vsto punch someone's lights out
  • Offensive
1 9.9

To make someone fall asleep or become unconscious suddenly

is used for a forceful act done angrily to cause unconsciousness
to knock the living daylights out of
vsto punch someone's lights out
  • Offensive
9.9

To hit someone very hard or to shock someone very much

refers to a single forceful act used angrily to render someone unconscious

How Hard

to punch someone's lights out
  • Offensive
9.8
to deck
  • Informal
14 8.2
to punch
455 1.4
to hit
∞ 1.0
to tap
174 1.0

Surface Forms

punch someone's lights out infinitive
punched someone's lights out past
punched someone's lights out past participle
punching someone's lights out present participle
punches someone's lights out third person singular

Morphology

punch + someone's + lights + out

The verb 'punch' (to hit) and 'out' (completely unconscious) signal a violent act and its result, so parts of the meaning are inferable, but 'lights' is used metaphorically for a person’s consciousness rather than literal lamps. This figurative use ('lights out' = knocked unconscious) is not fully predictable from the literal words and may not be obvious to a B1 learner without prior exposure.

Etymology

The idiom punch someone's lights out paints a simple picture: to punch someone so hard that their lights — their eyes or energy — go out. So, it means 'to hit someone very hard and knock them unconscious'.