bejabbers

American  

[bih-jab-erz] / bɪˈdʒæb ərz /

Also bejabers

interjection

1. (used as a mild oath expressing astonishment, dismay, disbelief, or the like.)

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noun

1. Informal. dickens; devil.

   The fighter's left uppercut knocked the bejabbers out of his opponent.

Etymology

Origin of bejabbers

First recorded in 1815–25; alleged to be euphemistic alteration of by Jesus

Example Sentences

“It scared the bejabbers out of me,” Bowie wrote in Vanity Fair in 2003.

From Washington Post • Feb. 8, 2022

On Saturday, the Yankees scared the bejabbers out of their closer, Kenley Jansen, before losing after a controversial ninth-inning call.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 26, 2019

After Princeton scared the bejabbers out of mighty Michigan State, losing earlier this season by two points, Jud Heathcote sang the same tune.

From Time Magazine Archive

Yet at practice he was telling his players that Pitt was more like the army of Grenada and that he expected the Irish to beat the bejabbers out of them.

From Time Magazine Archive

"Och, bejabbers, it's a great joke they have agin me whatever," said old Patman, who was shivering much, with cold partly, and partly perhaps with amusement.

From Strangers at Lisconnel by Barlow, Jane