dust off

1. Pitch a baseball dangerously close to the batter's head, as in I'm sure he dusted him off on purpose . [ Slang ; 1920s]

2. Restore to use. For example, I've dusted off last year's menu for the party . This usage alludes to cleaning and thereby renewing some object. [Mid-1900s]

3. Finish off, kill; also, easily defeat. For example, They vowed to dust off the old man , or We'll dust off this team in no time . [ Slang ; c. 1940]

4. Thrash, beat up, as in If he didn't hand over his wallet, they threatened to dust him off . [ Slang ; 1920s]

Example Sentences

On this week’s episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick was joined by Katherine Yon Ebright, from the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program, to discuss whether Trump could dust off this 226-year-old statute to carry out his promised mass deportations of noncitizens.

From Slate

We wait until the cool air of the morning or evening to exercise, dust off our biggest water bottle and slather ourselves in SPF 75.

From Los Angeles Times

“The concept of letting it burn out through food animals, with unmonitored voluntary testing, has failed. There are pandemic playbooks that we need to dust off and begin to implement.”

From Los Angeles Times

“There are pandemic playbooks that we need to dust off and begin to implement.”

From Los Angeles Times

So when Penn migrated south three years ago and began laying the foundation for another expansion club, this time in San Diego, it was assumed he’d simply dust off the same blueprints.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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• behead
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• decapitate
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• lynch
• massacre
• shoot
• slaughter
• slay
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