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Definition 2024


go_for_the_jugular

go for the jugular

English

Verb

go for the jugular

  1. (idiomatic) To exert an unrestrained, aggressive effort, especially by assailing an opponent's or victim's area of greatest vulnerability.
    • 1988 March 1, "Litigation is War–True or False?," ABA Journal, p. 8 (retrieved 29 March 2011):
      The cover story of last July's Journal was on hardball litigation tactics. It quoted lawyers talking about pulling out all the stops, going for the jugular.
    • 2005 Jan. 29, Neil Harmon, "Hewitt to carry the hopes of a nation," times.online (UK) (retrieved 29 March 2011):
      Hewitt, angered by being kept hanging around, went for the jugular, breaking Roddick’s first and third service games to set himself up for a victory completed with another error from Roddick’s forehand wing.
    • 2008 Aug. 28, Joe Klein, "What Bush Taught McCain," Time:
      We have just now completed the month of August, which is the cruelest month for Democrats, the month when Republicans go for the jugular, trotting out arguments — some valid, most scurrilous — that paint their Democratic rivals as weak, élite or unpatriotic.

Synonyms

See also