daylight

beat the (living) daylights out of give (someone) a very severe beating. informal

☞ Daylight or daylights has been used from the mid 18th century as a metaphor for 'eyes', and here has the extended sense of any vital organ of the body.

daylight robbery blatant and unfair overcharging. British informal

2005MotleyFool.co.uk: Comment Have you seen the price of potted plants and fruit trees in garden centres recently? It's daylight robbery.

frighten (or scare) the (living) daylights out of give someone a very severe fright.

☞ This expression was a mid-20th-century development from beat the living daylights out of, on the premise that the effect of extreme fear is as drastic as physical violence.

1955Frank YerbyThe Treasure of Pleasant Valley Didn't mean to hit him…Meant to throw close to him and scare the living daylights out of him.

in broad daylight: seebroad.

see daylight begin to understand what was previously puzzling or unclear.