Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

take to the cleaners

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.46 in modern English

Syllables: take -to the -clean-ers
IPA

26

Scrabble Score

17

Letters

4

Syllables

11

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To take a significant quantity of a person's money or valuables, through overcharging, litigation, unfavorable investing, gambling, fraud, etc.

Slang

verb

To thrash someone.

Slang

Example Sentences

"“That’s not the idea. These people you want taken to the cleaners were friends of yours yesterday. Maybe they will be friends again next week. I don’t care about that. But I’m not playing politics for you.[…]"
"Dizzy refused to pose with a blonde chorine clad only in step-ins. "No sir," exploded Dizzy. ". . . [M]y wife would take me to the cleaners if she saw a picture like that.""
"Take me to the power, take me to the heat / Take me to the cleaners if it's open to the street / Something's got to pay off, something's got to break / Someone's got a fortune that they're begging me to take"
"George Bush paid the IRS $198,000 in back taxes and interest, and he is planning to sue, if necessary, to get his money back. "I'm the guy that's been taken to the cleaners," Bush said last week."
"Did your ex-wife ever go to the laundrette? Or is it just her husband that she takes to the cleaners, man?"
""Billions of dollars are being squandered, and the taxpayer is being taken to the cleaners," Waxman said."

Etymology

A humorous alteration of the older expression to clean (someone) out.

Usage

Slang

Inflected Forms

takes to the cleaners (present, singular) taking to the cleaners (participle, present) took to the cleaners (past) taken to the cleaners (participle, past) take to the cleaner's (alternative)

Questions

What does take to the cleaners mean?: To take a significant quantity of a person's money or valuables, through overcharging, litigation, unfavorable investing, gambling, fraud, etc.
Where does take to the cleaners come from?: A humorous alteration of the older expression to clean (someone) out.

How to pronounce take to the cleaners

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