put someone's lights out

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

put someone's lights out

1. (idiomatic) To cause someone to become unconscious, especially by striking him or her.
   • 1981 Sept. 16, "More than 300 million to see THE fight tonight," Beaver County Times, p. C1 (retrieved 12 Nov 2015):

     "He's taken an awful lot of punches in his last few fights and if Thomas hits him like that, he'll put his lights out. It'll be like a blackout."

   • 1984 Aug. 28, Bert Rosenthal, "Hagler looks forward to Garden visit," Kentucky New Era, p. C1 (retrieved 12 Nov 2015):

     "The last time I fought Mustafa, I just wanted to give him a beating. . . . This time, I want to put his lights out."

   • 1996 Dec. 31, Bill Copeland, "True love is where you find it," Sarasota Herald-Tribune, p. 4E (retrieved 12 Nov 2015):

     [H]e knew every trick in the books, combatwise, and "could put your lights out with a simple sustained pressure on a carotid nerve."

• knock (someone) out

• punch someone's lights out