knock the living daylights out of
To beat or strike someone.
Boy, the fellows said he just knocked the living daylights out of him, bounced him six feet across the ground.
living
/ˈlɪvɪŋ/
adj 5noun 5
Collocations
5(noun.)
ADJ
comfortable, decent, good
She earned a comfortable living working as a freelance graphic designer for many years.
meagre
Many families in the village earned a meagre living by working in the local factory.
VERB + LIVING
earn, make
My father made a living as a carpenter for over thirty years.
eke out, scrape (together), scratch
My grandfather had to scratch a living as a farmer during those difficult years.
do sth for
My mother works as a nurse to make a living for her family.
Definitions
adj
1
Having life; alive.
a living, breathing child
Respect for the dead does not preclude respect for the living.
2
In use or existing.
Hunanese is a living language.
The cab pulled up in front of a tumbledown cheap ‘villa’ in an unfinished cheap neighbourhood, — the whole place a living monument of the defeat of the speculative builder.
3
True to life.
This is the living image of Fidel Castro.
4
Of rock or stone, existing in its original state and place.
This we followed for about five paces, when it suddenly widened out into a small chamber, about eight feet square, and hewn out of the living rock.
5
Continually updated; not static
HTML is a living standard.
noun
1
The state of being alive.
2
Financial means; a means of maintaining life; livelihood
it's a living
What do you do for a living?
3
A style of life.
plain living
The National Brewing Company declared that the Chesapeake Bay region was the Land of Pleasant Living.
4
Those who are alive: living people.
in the land of the living
Glad to see you're still among the living! [good-humored greeting]
5
A position in a church (usually the Church of England) that has attached to it a source of income; an ecclesiastical benefice.
A Rectory or Parſonage, is a Spirituall liuing, compoſed of Land, Tythe, and other Oblations of the people, ſeparate or dedicate to God in any Congregation, for the ſeruice of his Church there, and for the maintenance of the Gouernour or Miniſter thereof, to vvhoſe charge the ſame is committed.
The patron of the living who had the right to nominate a particular priest might make the choice, but the living was actually granted by the local bishop.
Thesaurus
Idioms & Phrases
in living memory
In recent history, in recorded history amongst the lifespan of extant people; events or situations which can be remembered by people that are still alive.
The Roberts Court is the most politically conservative in living memory.
living end
The most extreme form of something or the final and most impactful development in a series of events — whether favorable or unfavorable
This is the guy who was supposed to be the living end when he came into the NBA in 1959. Yet the Warriors have never been better than second with him.
living death
A condition of suffering, solitude, or impairment so extreme as to deprive one's existence of all happiness and meaning.
La[dy Anne]. Neuer hung poiſon on a fouler toade, Out of my ſight thou doeſt infect my eies. Glo[ucester]. Thine eies ſweete Lady haue infected mine. La[dy Anne]. Would they were
within living memory
In living memory.
Example Bank
601
a living, breathing child
Wiktionary02
Respect for the dead does not preclude respect for the living.
Wiktionary03
It is also pertinent to note that the current obvious decline in work on holarctic hepatics most surely reflects a current obsession with cataloging and with nomenclature of the organisms—as divorced
Wiktionary04
it's a living
Wiktionary05
What do you do for a living?
Wiktionary06
Career opportunity […] is the one who never knocks — especially not on the doors of women, who are still hooking, housewifing and hairdressing for their livings.
WiktionaryUsage Notes
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