Word.ws English Dictionary

had someone by the balls

had someone by the balls is the simple past and past participle of have someone by the balls.

Meaning of have someone by the balls

Verb

have someone by the balls (third-person singular simple present has someone by the balls, present participle having someone by the balls, simple past and past participle had someone by the balls)

  1. (idiomatic, slang, vulgar) To exercise total control over someone; to be in a position to threaten or extort someone.
    • You think I wouldn't have him
      Unless I could have him by the balls
      You think I just dish it out
      You don't think I take it at all1992, Ani DiFranco, I'm No Heroine
    Synonyms:
    have someone by the short hairs § Synonyms

Questions about had someone by the balls

What is had someone by the balls the simple past and past participle of?
Had someone by the balls is the simple past and past participle of have someone by the balls.

Words near had someone by the balls in the dictionary

  1. had seen this film
  2. had seen this movie
  3. had sex
  4. had sexual relations
  5. had shit on
  6. had someone by the balls
  7. had someone by the short and curlies
  8. had someone by the short hairs
  9. had someone on toast
  10. had someone there
  11. had someone to rights

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: had someone by the balls (page history and authors); have someone by the balls (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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