work over

work over
verb
give a beating to; subject to a beating, either as a punishment or as an act of aggression
-

Thugs beat him up when he walked down the street late at night

-

The teacher used to beat the students

• Syn: ↑beat, ↑beat up
• Derivationally related forms: ↑beating (for: ↑beat)
• Hyponyms:
↑strong-arm, ↑soak, ↑pistol-whip, ↑belabour, ↑belabor, ↑rough up, ↑flog, ↑welt, ↑whip, ↑lather, ↑lash, ↑slash, ↑strap, ↑trounce, ↑cane, ↑lambaste, ↑lambast, ↑knock cold, ↑knock out, ↑kayo, ↑thrash, ↑thresh, ↑lam, ↑flail, ↑clobber, ↑baste, ↑batter, ↑spank, ↑paddle, ↑larrup
• Entailment: ↑hit
• Verb Frames:
-

Somebody ——s somebody

* * *

transitive verb
Etymology: work (III)
1. : to subject to thorough examination or study or treatment

shelf stock would get thoroughly worked over as shoppers sought out packages with the latest dates — Modern Packaging

spent some time in working over the available books — A.T.Weaver

working over not only the edge and point but the entire surface of their artifacts — A.L.Kroeber

2.
a. : to do over : rework

saved the play by working the first act over

worked over the old furniture

b. : to revise or alter radically or systematically

the frontier … had worked them over inside — W.P.Webb

3.
a. : to beat up or manhandle especially with deliberate thoroughness

none of them hesitated to work a man over for shifting a little out of line or talking — R.O.Bowen

working them over with sabers, billies, and gun butts — Time

b. : to pick the pockets of
c. : to subject to thorough or systematic artillery fire, bombing, or strafing

destroyers had worked over the point with their five-inch guns — Bill Alcine

* * *

work over
1. To do or work at thoroughly or elaborately
2. To examine in detail
3. To beat up, thrash (slang; workˈ-over or workˈing-over noun)
• • •
Main Entry: ↑work

* * *

ˌwork ˈover [transitive] [present tense I/you/we/they work over he/she/it works over present participle working over past tense worked over past participle worked over] informal phrasal verb
to injure someone severely by hitting them
Thesaurus: to attack a person or objectsynonym to hit a personsynonym
Main entry: work

* * *

work over [phrasal verb]
work (someone) over informal : to hurt (someone) by hitting, kicking, etc.

He looked like someone had worked him over [=beat him up] pretty good.

• • •
Main Entry: ↑work

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • work over — ► work over informal beat up. Main Entry: ↑work …   English terms dictionary

  • work over — index emend, modify (alter), redact, revise Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • work over — phrasal verb [transitive] Word forms work over : present tense I/you/we/they work over he/she/it works over present participle working over past tense worked over past participle worked over informal work someone over to injure someone severely… …   English dictionary

  • work over — verb a) To improve a prototype, or first draft. The estimated figures are not bad, but somebody will have to work them over. b) To physically attack in order to cause injury. Hell talk, once we work him over …   Wiktionary

  • work over — PHRASAL VERB To work someone over means to beat them very violently. [INFORMAL] [V n P] The gang worked me over. Syn: beat up …   English dictionary

  • work over — transitive verb Date: 1835 1. to subject to thorough examination, study, or treatment < shelf stock worked over by shoppers > 2. to do over ; rework < saved the play by working the first act over > 3. to beat up or manhandle with thoroughness …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • work over — {v. phr.}, {slang} To beat someone up very roughly in order to intimidate him or extort payment, etc. * /Matthew was worked over by the hoodlums in the park right after midnight./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • work over — {v. phr.}, {slang} To beat someone up very roughly in order to intimidate him or extort payment, etc. * /Matthew was worked over by the hoodlums in the park right after midnight./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • work over — (Roget s IV) v. 1. [To repair] Syn. fix, fix up, go over, redo; see repair , repeat 1 . 2. [*To beat or punish] Syn. thrash, beat up*, abuse; see beat 2 , punish …   English dictionary for students

  • work\ over — v. phr. slang To beat someone up very roughly in order to intimidate him or extort payment, etc. Matthew was worked over by the hoodlums in the park right after midnight …   Словарь американских идиом

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