put someone through his or her paces
Test thoroughly to see what someone can do, as in We put the new programmer though her paces, and she passed with flying colors. The idiom can refer to things as well, as in When we put the electrical system through its paces, we blew a fuse. The expression alludes to testing a horse's ability in the various paces (trot, canter, and gallop). Its use referring to horses dates from the late 1700s; its figurative use was first recorded in 1871.
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Nearby words
- put someone down,
- put someone in his or her place,
- put someone on,
- put someone out of his or her misery,
- put someone right,
- put someone up,
- put someone up to,
- put someone wise,
- put that in your pipe and smoke it,
- put the arm on
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.