the knives are out
UKDefinition
› something you say that means that people are being unpleasant about someone, or trying to harm them: The knives are out for the former president.Not likingTreating people or animals badlyInsults and abuseUnkind, cruel and unfeelingViolent or aggressive
(Definition of the knives are out from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus
© Cambridge University Press)
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Synonyms and related words:
- a raw deal idiom
- at the hands of sb idiom
- batten on sb phrasal verb
- be heavy on sb idiom
- be put upon phrasal verb
- grind the faces of the poor idiom
- harassment noun
- have your knife into sb idiom
- hell noun
- hit sb where it hurts idiom
- objectification noun
- persecute verb
- persecution noun
- persecutor noun
- pick on sb phrasal verb
- trample verb (TREAT WITHOUT RESPECT)
- treat sb like dirt idiom
- trespass on/upon sth phrasal verb
- tyrannical adjective
- tyrannize verb
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