rip off the bandage

verb

To deal with a difficult situation by sudden difficult action.

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Meanings

verbrip off the bandage (third-person singular simple present rips off the bandage, present participle ripping off the bandage, simple past and past participle ripped off the bandage)

present singular third person rips off the bandage · participle present ripping off the bandage · participle past ripped off the bandage · past ripped off the bandage

  1. idiomaticinformalTo deal with a difficult situation by sudden difficult action.

    If I look at just the facts, grit my teeth, and rip off the bandage, I know I'm adult enough to return to Chicago, to my desk, search for an apartment, and buy a car. But it is not what I crave.

    2021, Savanna Redman, Refuge
Cite this entry
APA

rip off the bandage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rip%20off%20the%20bandage

MLA

“rip off the bandage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rip%20off%20the%20bandage. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rip off the bandage,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rip%20off%20the%20bandage.

Source: rip off the bandage on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.