down for the count
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down for the count
Where it comes from
The figurative senses are extended from the literal one.
adjective
- Decisively beaten; defeated; rendered irrelevant for the long term. As the company grew, one after another of its smaller competitors ended up down for the count.
- Soundly unconscious, either because asleep or because otherwise knocked out. A: Look at him, he's out like a light! B: Yeah, he had a long day! And now he's down for the count.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see down, for, the, count: lying upon the mat of a boxing ring while the referee counts the fighter out. Liston was down for the count more than once before rising up to regain command of the fight.
