to wipe the floor with
8
7.5
- idiom
- Informal
:
dar una paliza a
- Bama is going to wipe the floor with Arkansas on the 15th.
- gonna wipe the floor with
But but if he fought Connor in the UFC, kind of wipe the floor with him, hands down, simple as that.
- But but if he fought Connor in the UFC, kind of wipe the floor with him, hands down, simple as that.
- Lincoln was told no by President Sisi and he DC gave a press conference where he basically, you know, wiped the floor with, with Blinken.
- But a lot of us a team, not team, but we're in the boat of we think Jake would just wipe the floor with them.
- I hope day one they've like wipe the floor with me.
- Yeah no, so and so's beat me fucking purple belty leg lock me fucking tomorrow wipe the floor with that cunt back again.
Examples
-
Biden wiped the floor with Ryan, and anyone saying otherwise is just a sore loser.
Blog text (21) -
The Australian didn't just beat Rossi to the world title that year, he wiped the floor with him, taking ten victories to the Italian's four.
-
Let me just tell him that any one of them will wipe the floor with Captain.
-
"No, because in an enclosed space like this, Jones would wipe the floor with me."
Blog text (10) -
We have friends in Hong Kong who say that he will wipe the floor with you.
-
There are dozens of directors out there who can wipe the floor with him.
Blog text (15) -
Harry, you wiped the floor with me.
Fiction book (2002) -
I'm sure Obama would wipe the floor with that guy anyway.
Blog text (20) -
I am going to wipe the floor with that little know-it-all.
-
In the final match, our team wiped the floor with the competition, winning by a huge margin.
Synonyms
932
2.1
To beat someone in a game, fight, or contest
557
1.7
Beat someone completely in a contest or game
109
7.2
Beat someone or something completely in a conflict
53
9.9
To hurt or defeat someone very badly, often by hitting them
49
3.8
Defeat others in a contest to win a job or prize
46
3.4
To remove someone or something from a competition by defeating them
45
9.0
To beat or punish someone very badly
39
8.2
To defeat someone completely in a game or fight
14
7.5
To beat an opponent by a large amount in a game or contest
11
8.7
To beat someone by a large amount in a contest or game
8
3.7
Defeat an opponent completely and easily
8
7.7
To beat someone completely in a game or fight
8
4.8
To knock someone to the ground with force
6
4.5
Beat someone completely in a game or contest
3
7.7
Win easily by a lot against another person or team
1
8.8
To beat someone easily and completely
1
9.0
Hit someone many times until they are badly hurt
1
9.9
To defeat someone completely, often physically or in a game, used in rude speech
1
5.2
To defeat an opponent completely and easily
1
8.8
To beat someone badly in a game or fight
1
6.7
To beat someone very easily and completely in a game or contest
Beat someone badly in a game or fight
To defeat someone completely in a contest or argument
Antonyms
How Decisive
8
3.7
- Informal
8
7.5
14
7.5
932
2.1
∞
1.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
There is a loose, partially transparent link: 'wipe'/'wipe the floor' evokes cleaning or sweeping and 'floor' can mean knock to the ground, so the image of overwhelming or sweeping aside an opponent hints at decisive defeat. However, the specific idiomatic sense 'defeat someone decisively' is a metaphorical extension not fully predictable from the constituents, so a B1 learner who simply knows the words may not reliably infer the meaning without exposure.
Etymology
The idiom wipe the floor with comes from the simple image of cleaning: when you wipe a dirty floor you drag a cloth or mop so the dirt goes away. So, to wipe the floor with someone means to beat them very easily, like removing dirt, and that is why it means 'to defeat someone completely'.