Clobber

Clobber is one of those words that you probably have used without realizing it. Unless you are The Thing from the Fantastic Four and it has become part of your catchphrase.

Meaning to pound mercilessly or to defeat overwhelmingly it came to be used in the 1940s when British RAF pilots would refer to a plane that was badly damaged or even shot down as having been “clobbered”. From there it took off and entered into the everyday lexicon with both figurative and literal meanings.

The car was clobbered in the accident.

Joe got clobbered at his job review.