Work Over (Verb)
Meaning
Give a beating to; subject to a beating, either as a punishment or as an act of aggression; "Thugs beat him up when he walked down the street late at night"; "The teacher used to beat the students".
Classification
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging.
Examples
- The boxer's opponents would work him over mercilessly in the ring if he didn't improve his defense.
- The new employee was being worked over by his boss for the smallest mistakes.
- The rival gang worked over the teenager for wearing the wrong colors in their territory.
- During the interrogation, the detective worked him over until he cracked under pressure.
- The sergeant worked the recruit over to toughen him up during boot camp.