works over
Roughs someone up
To work someone over is to beat them up, typically as punishment or intimidation: The thugs worked him over in the alley.
The phrase suggests sustained, methodical violence rather than a single blow.
Less commonly, to work something over means to examine or rework it thoroughly: She worked over the manuscript until it was polished.
- rehearsePractice before performing
- fixRepair or solution
- fileStored collection of data
- pummelsStrikes with repeated blows
- beats upAssaults physically, repeatedly
roughs up · polish · rub · edit · massages · revise · kneads · drill · grind · sandpaper · beats · puts through the wringer · smooth · buff · toil · erase · draft · redo