Mop the floor with someone and wipe the floor with someone are two variations of an idiom. We will examine the meaning of the idioms mop the floor with someone and wipe the floor with someone, where they came from, and some examples of its use in sentences.
To mop the floor with someone or wipe the floor with someone means to defeat him soundly, to vanquish him in a humiliating manner, to leave no doubt of one’s superiority in a contest. The idioms mop the floor with someone and wipe the floor with someone came into use in the latter half of the 1800s and originated in the United States. Related phrases are mops the floor with someone and wipes the floor with someone, mopped the floor with someone and wiped the floor with someone, mopping the floor with someone and wiping the floor with someone. The variation wipe the floor with someone is about twice as popular as the phrase mop the floor with someone.
Examples
The widespread belief is that the Raw women’s Elimination Chamber match will be an absolute cakewalk for Baszler, who has a ton of supporters backstage and is likely going to mop the floor with virtually everyone in the match. (Forbes Magazine)
Then he mopped the floor with Shimon Peres before going on to win that year’s election. (The Times of Israel)
“I just don’t think that the way to see meaningful change happening is to win and wipe the floor with the other side,” he says. (Philadelphia Magazine)
In the past few years, computers have wiped the floor with top human players in board and card games such as go, poker and Hanabi, as well as in challenging video games such as Dota 2, Starcraft II and Quake III Arena. (The Washington Post)