out of one's system

Idioms  

1. Out of one's thoughts or inclinations. It is often put as get something out of one's system, as in You need to get your ex-husband out of your system, or At the annual all-chocolate buffet I try everything, which gets it out of my system for at least a month, or Let him complain as much as he wants so he'll get it out of his system. This idiom uses system in the sense of “all one's physical and mental functions.” [c. 1900]

---

Example Sentences

Freud hypothesized that throwing up can be a symbolic act, an outward expression of the impulse to get a noxious thought out of one’s system.

From Slate • Feb. 28, 2012

"Leaving Vietnam behind did not mean getting it out of one's system," he said.

From Washington Post • Dec. 14, 2010

Some things one gets out of one’s system, And other things in.

From A line-o'-verse or two by Taylor, Bert Leston