upside the head

Idioms

Against the side of someone's head, as in With those nightsticks the police are known for knocking suspects upside the head. [Slang; second half of 1900s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

And there was the butt-kicking the Lakers endured in the third quarter when the Suns smacked them upside the head in building a 32-point lead before a late L.A. rally made the final score respectable.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 23, 2021

“Kevin” is like that bottle; it will make us see the horror in what we’ve been trained to see as harmless, even if it has to smack us upside the head.

From New York Times • Aug. 2, 2021

“To me, it’s glaring; it’s like a brick upside the head that there haven’t been others,” Washington said.

From Washington Post • Jul. 3, 2021

Or maybe a boomerang, one that doesn’t slide gently back into your waiting grasp so much as smack you upside the head, leaving you feeling bruised, confused, and possibly stricken with amnesia.

From Slate • Dec. 28, 2020

That was Gum Baby whacking me upside the head as she climbed onto my shoulder with a yawn.

From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023