to take somebody to the cleaners
01
完膚なきまでに負かす, こてんぱんにする
to defeat a person or a group thoroughly, often in a very humiliating manner
![to [take] {sb} to the cleaners definition and meaning](https://cdn.langeek.co/photo/39973/original/?type=jpeg "to [take] {sb} to the cleaners definition and meaning")
disapproving
idiom
例
The defending champions took their rivals to the cleaners.
前回王者はライバルを完膚なきまでに負かした。
02
to take someone's possessions by force or without the right to do so
![to [take] {sb} to the cleaners definition and meaning](https://cdn.langeek.co/photo/43961/original/?type=jpeg "to [take] {sb} to the cleaners definition and meaning")
disapproving
idiom
informal
例
By the time the fraud was discovered, the investors had already been taken to the cleaners.
