the knives are out (for someone)
idiom
—used to say that people are ready to blame or punish someone for something often in a way that is unfair
They lost yet another important game, and now the knives are out for their coach.
Examples of the knives are out (for someone) in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But with a possible global recession looming and multinational tech firms retrenching, the knives are out.
—
Megha Mandavia, WSJ, 30 Nov. 2022
Yet now, all across Wall Street the knives are out for Morgan Stanley.
—Gillian Tan, Bloomberg.com, 27 Mar. 2022
With Johnson’s popularity down, the knives are out and all eyes are on rivals within his government, particularly Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
—Matt Bradley, NBC News, 12 Jan. 2022
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Megha Mandavia, WSJ, 30 Nov. 2022
Yet now, all across Wall Street the knives are out for Morgan Stanley.
—Gillian Tan, Bloomberg.com, 27 Mar. 2022
With Johnson’s popularity down, the knives are out and all eyes are on rivals within his government, particularly Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
—Matt Bradley, NBC News, 12 Jan. 2022
Cite this Entry
“The knives are out (for someone).” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20knives%20are%20out%20%28for%20someone%29. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.
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