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

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'the knives are out (for someone).' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near the knives are out (for someone)

the kiss of life

the knives are out (for someone)

the Kremlin

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 28 Mar. 2024.

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