Word.ws English Dictionary

open a can of whoop ass

open a can of whoop ass verb: a good-humored threat of physical harm.

Verb

open a can of whoop ass (third-person singular simple present opens a can of whoop ass, present participle opening a can of whoop ass, simple past and past participle opened a can of whoop ass)

  1. (US, idiomatic, slang, vulgar) A good-humored threat of physical harm.
    • I'm gonna open up a can of whoop-ass on ya.
    • Chan stars in his first all-American production as chan as Hong Kong Detective Inspector Lee, a noble, innocent and caring police officer who can really bust open a can of whoop-ass when given the chance.1998, Robert Fletcher, “No rush to see new Chan”, in University Wire
    Synonyms:
    break out a can of kick-ass, break out a can of whoop ass, break out a can of whoop-ass, bust open a can of kick-ass, bust open a can of whoop ass, bust open a can of whoop-ass, open a can of kick-ass, open up a can of kick-ass

Synonyms of open a can of whoop ass

Forms of open a can of whoop ass

third-person singular presentopens a can of whoop ass
present participleopening a can of whoop ass
past participleopened a can of whoop ass
pastopened a can of whoop ass
alternative formopen a can of whup ass
alternative formopen a can of whoop-ass
alternative formopen up a can of whoop ass
alternative formopen up a can of whoop-ass

Origin of open a can of whoop ass

From English whoop (variant of whip) + ass.

Questions about open a can of whoop ass

What does open a can of whoop ass mean?
Open a can of whoop ass means a good-humored threat of physical harm.
What part of speech is open a can of whoop ass?
Open a can of whoop ass is a verb.
What is the past tense of open a can of whoop ass?
The past tense of open a can of whoop ass is opened a can of whoop ass.

Words near open a can of whoop ass in the dictionary

  1. Opelka
  2. Opelkas
  3. Opelousa
  4. Opelousas
  5. open
  6. open a can of whoop ass
  7. open a can of whoop-ass
  8. open a can of whup ass
  9. open access
  10. open admission
  11. open admissions

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: open a can of whoop ass (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En US whoopass.wav, En-au-open a can of whoop ass.ogg.

Cite this entry: “open a can of whoop ass.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/open_a_can_of_whoop_ass. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.