Knock the bottom out of
Also, knock the props out from under. Render invalid, undermine. For example, The discovery of another planet that might support life knocks the bottom out of many theories, or Jane’s skilled debating knocked the props out from under her opponent. The first expression dates from the late 1800s, the variant from the first half of the 1900s.
Read Also:
- Knock the habit
verb phrase To stop taking drugs, esp end a drug addiction
- Knock the living daylights out of
Also, knock the shit or stuffing or tar out of . See beat the living daylights out of
- Knock them in the aisles
Related Terms lay them in the aisles
- Knock the props from under
verb phrase To make a position, argument, opinion, etc, invalid; call into serious question: What he found out knocks the props from under her story (1910+)
- Knock the spots off someone
verb phrase To defeat someone decisively; clobber (1950+)