scrape someone off the ceiling

Verb

scrape someone off the ceiling (third-person singular simple present scrapes someone off the ceiling, present participle scraping someone off the ceiling, simple past and past participle scraped someone off the ceiling)

1. (idiomatic) Used to describe the response to someone who is either experiencing great pain, who is very frightened, or is very elated.
   • He would come over to my office at least once a week and explode because somebody had been after him. And I would scrape him off the ceiling and send him back until the next week.1979, A History of Cancer Control in the United States, 1946-1971
   • Occasionally, however, they will get a real thriller, and when the horn goes off at a particularly suspenseful point, they say you can scrape the pilots off the ceiling.1983, Michael Skinner, USAFE, a primer of modern air combat in Europe, page 8

   Synonyms:

   pull someone off the ceiling, peel someone off the ceiling