get one's clock cleaned

Meaning

To be thoroughly defeated.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

“The team got their clocks cleaned in the final game.”

“He thought he could win the chess match easily, but he got his clock cleaned in under ten minutes.”

“Despite his confidence and months of rigorous preparation, the challenger got his clock cleaned by the reigning champion in the very first round.”

simple

“The team got their clocks cleaned in the final game.”

contextual

“He thought he could win the chess match easily, but he got his clock cleaned in under ten minutes.”

complex

“Despite his confidence and months of rigorous preparation, the challenger got his clock cleaned by the reigning champion in the very first round.”