pants off, the

Idioms  

1. This phrase is used to intensify the meaning of verbs such as. For example, That speech bored the pants off us, or It was a real tornado and scared the pants off me. Playwright Eugene O'Neill used it in Ah, Wilderness! (1933): “I tell you, you scared the pants off him,” and Evelyn Waugh, in A Handful of Dust (1934), had a variation, “She bores my pants off.” [Colloquial; early 1900s] Also see bore to death; beat the pants off.

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Example Sentences

But year to date the fund, which yields 3.4%, is beating the pants off the market.

From Barron's • Mar. 6, 2026

They scared the pants off the Eton crowd when James read them to his students, and they scare me still today.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 18, 2018

This relationship is essential to the multihyphenate’s identity as a singer, songwriter, actor, and person who keeps her pants off the ground.

From Slate • May 1, 2018

Back then, the team just ordered and paid for the pants off the rack, but it soon became a sponsorship opportunity.

From Washington Times • Jan. 23, 2018

“Yes, for the horse. The Hasses gave him to me for twenty bucks because he won’t stop eating the pants off the line.”

From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby