like a ton of bricks

English

Pronunciation
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Prepositional phrase

like a ton of bricks

  1. (simile, colloquial) Very strongly; very heavily; often unexpectedly.
    • 1884 February 2, Punch‎, page 52:
      The Defendant then came down on me like a ton of bricks, as my eye will prove.
    • 2000, United States Senate, The Boomers are Coming: The Challenge of Family Caregiving : Hearing Before the Special Committee on Aging, United States Senate, One Hundred Sixth Congress, First Session, Monroe, LA, October 11, 1999‎, →ISBN, page 34:
      Senator Breaux: Did you see this coming on gradually, or did it hit you all of a sudden like a ton of bricks?
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