the pants off
idiom
informal
—used for emphasis after words like charm, scare, frighten, bore, and beat
He can charm the pants off anybody.
She scared the pants off us when she phoned at 3 a.m.
Examples of the pants off in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Trump has been 'beating the pants off of Biden' since Halloween.
—
Fox News, 6 Mar. 2024
Curtis' writing is as sharp as ever, and the cast has rarely had a better opportunity to charm the pants off of everyone in sight.
—Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 29 Aug. 2023
Of course, there will be those who bemoan the fact that the new AMG GT has lost its raw edge and doesn’t try to scare the pants off you at every turn, but remember, this is the introductory model—there will surely be hotter versions to come (as in perhaps the S, R, and maybe Pro).
—Peter Bleakney, Robb Report, 21 Nov. 2023
This is a team that just swept the pants off the Dodgers, the Diamondbacks’ 4-2 victory Wednesday night at Chase Field in Phoenix finishing a three-games-to-none clinching of their National League Division Series and completing the most brutal of broom bashings.
—Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2023
Scare the pants off your friends and fam with a spine-chilling costume complete with fake blood and a creepy mask.
—Leah Campano, Seventeen, 2 June 2023
Fox News, 6 Mar. 2024
Curtis' writing is as sharp as ever, and the cast has rarely had a better opportunity to charm the pants off of everyone in sight.
—Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 29 Aug. 2023
Of course, there will be those who bemoan the fact that the new AMG GT has lost its raw edge and doesn’t try to scare the pants off you at every turn, but remember, this is the introductory model—there will surely be hotter versions to come (as in perhaps the S, R, and maybe Pro).
—Peter Bleakney, Robb Report, 21 Nov. 2023
This is a team that just swept the pants off the Dodgers, the Diamondbacks’ 4-2 victory Wednesday night at Chase Field in Phoenix finishing a three-games-to-none clinching of their National League Division Series and completing the most brutal of broom bashings.
—Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2023
Scare the pants off your friends and fam with a spine-chilling costume complete with fake blood and a creepy mask.
—Leah Campano, Seventeen, 2 June 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'the pants off.' 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 pants off
Cite this Entry
“The pants off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20pants%20off. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.
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