sue the pants off

sue the pants off (of) (one)

To sue one for a huge sum of money, especially if it is all or more than one is able to pay. He threatened to sue the pants off me if I ever published the things we had just discussed. With all the evidence we've got, we'll be able to sue the pants off of their company.
See also: off, pant, sue
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

sue the pants off (of) someone

Sl. to sue someone for a lot of money. (Of is usually retained before pronouns.) If they harm me in any way, I'll sue the pants off of them. He sued the pants off his landlord.
See also: off, pant, sue
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • sue the pants off (of) (one)
  • sue the pants off of someone
  • sue the pants off someone
  • 1FTR
  • at one go
  • at/in one go
  • as one door closes, another (one) opens
  • as one door closes, another one opens
  • as one door closes, another opens
  • be one of a kind
References in periodicals archive
And if he is now cleared of making the 'monkey' comment, he could surely sue the pants off Chelsea for damage to his reputation.
Just when you thought it was OK to like Chelsea..
Montag could not be reached for comments, but Shannon, 20, said that if such a tape did exist, she is not convinced that Pratt has it, and that if it did become public she would sue the pants off him.
Spencer Pratt finds Heidi Montag, Karissa Shannon's girl-on-girl sex tape
The story was perfect fodder for the annual Christmas Wars, during which peace-loving Christians festively sue the pants off of anyone suspected of religious bias; and 3.
Image takes a beating on holidays
Tell 76-year-old Des O'Connor he's too old to raise his new baby and he'll sue the pants off you!
Better off with gran & granddad
With this in mind, I hope that when Michael Shields is released and vindicated, he will sue the pants off our government for their woeful inaction in getting him released.
Letter: You Say - Support for Michael
You just know she'd sue the pants off you for unfair dismissal.
off the Record
A JUDGE who tried to sue the pants off a dry cleaners yesterday lost his claim for EUR40million in damages.
Judge sue washout
If, for example, you say that Horse A drifted alarmingly in the market, was slowly away and was never put in the race by Jockey B, who had earlier been seen talking to some extremely shady-looking characters who passed him a bulging brown envelope, then Jockey B, and very probably the shady characters themselves, can sue the pants off you and your paper for your clear implication that they had been doing something dishonest.
Paul Haigh on Saturday: Libel laws helping t o keep a lid on the truth
It's rumoured he's set to sue the pants off the Glasgow-based company.
SELINA SCOTT; Huwdunnit BBC and STV news get away with murder
Unfortunately, in our lawsuit-happy society, irregardless of who is really to blame, the knee-jerk reaction to personal injury is to hire a lawyer and sue the pants off everyone in sight.
Product liability reform is long overdue
SO thanks to the Record we now know that there are probably bacteria on Mars, carried by two spacecraft landed there last year by NASA.This means the Martians won't bother invading, they'll just sue the pants off us for giving them MRSA
Off the Record
The trend is set to have the same effect on the TV industry as Napster had on the recording industry - scare the life out of them and make them sue the pants off whoever's behind the distribution systems.
Amy's i: TV SHOWS FACE SHARING SCARE
You know the sort: "Have you recently had an accident that wasn't your fault - let's try and sue the pants off someone."
Rachel Bletchly column: LET'S END THE BLAME DRAIN
We will sue the pants off anyone who says this video is real."
NEIGHBOURS JESSE IN A GAY VIDEO SMEAR
Yes he did and if I was him I would sue the pants off everyone including that so-called celebrity Ulrika.
Did he get a raw deal over sex charges?; TEXT DEBATE