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Glite Dictionary
to rip off the band-aid

to rip off the band-aid

1 6.6
Face a difficult or painful situation quickly instead of delaying it
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
: enfrentar de una vez
  • To make the decision less painful, just rip off the band-aid and get it done quickly.
  • just rip off the band-aid

Let's just let's just RIP off the Band-Aid.

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Examples

  • One, two... (rips off the band-aid)

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Get it over with, rip off the band-aid rather than doing this song and dance, beating around the bush?

    Blog text (1)

  • It's, it's crazy and, and I wonder if anyone's going to be able to RIP off the Band-Aid with that.

    Julian Dorey

  • But with iOS 6, Apple decided it was time to rip off the band-aid and replace Google's maps with their own.

    Blog text (2)

  • It's hard to hear the bad news, but you need to rip off the band-aid and tell her the truth.

  • Sometimes you have to rip off the band-aid rather than avoiding the uncomfortable conversation.

Synonyms

to take the bull by the horns
vsto rip off the band-aid
  • Informal
4 5.6

To deal with a difficult problem directly and bravely

is quicker and aims to end things immediately rather than delay
to grab the bull by the horns
vsto rip off the band-aid
  • Informal
1 6.3

Face a difficult problem directly and bravely

is quicker and prefers immediate decisive action rather than brave steady effort
to grasp the nettle
vsto rip off the band-aid
  • Informal
1 8.2

Face a difficult problem directly and act firmly

is done quickly and decisively to end pain rather than prolong it

Antonyms

to avoid
∞ 1.0

To stay away from something or not do it to stop something bad from happening

to prolong
96 3.9

To make something last longer

How Decisive

to rip off the band-aid
  • Informal
1 6.6
to postpone
234 3.4
to avoid
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

rip off the band-aid infinitive
ripped off the band-aid past
ripped off the band-aid past participle
ripping off the band-aid present participle
rips off the band-aid third person singular

Morphology

rip + off + the + band-aid

The phrase evokes the literal action of tearing a band-aid off: a quick, painful removal that ends prolonged discomfort, so a learner who knows 'rip' (tear), 'off' (remove), and 'band-aid' (a small adhesive dressing) can readily infer the metaphorical meaning of doing something unpleasant quickly. The imagery and logic are straightforward and cross-linguistically accessible (despite 'Band‑Aid' being a brand), making the overall sense immediately derivable from the parts.

Etymology

Rip off the band-aid comes from the clear image of quickly pulling a sticky band-aid away: the rip off hurts only for a short moment and then the problem is over. So, it means 'to face a difficult or painful situation quickly instead of delaying it'.