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View synonyms for rough up

rough up

verb

  1. informal.
    to treat violently; beat up
  2. to cause (feathers, hair, etc) to stand up by rubbing against the grain


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Idioms and Phrases

Manhandle, subject to physical abuse, as in The gang was about to rough him up when the police arrived . [First half of 1900s]

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Example Sentences

Almost no one was ready to rough up the financial institutions very much, in fact.

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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