handbags at ten paces Idiom

put sth through its paces

Idiom(s): put sth through its paces

Theme: PERFORMANCE

to demonstrate how well something operates; to demonstrate all the things something can do.
• I was down by the barn, watching Sally put her horse through its paces.
• This is an excellent can opener. Watch me put it through its paces.

put one through one's paces

Idiom(s): put one through one's paces

Theme: WORK

to make one demonstrate what one can do; to make one do one's job thoroughly.
• The boss really put me through my paces today. I'm tired.
• I tried out for a part in the play, and the director really put me through my paces.

put one through one's paces|paces|put

v. phr. To train and discipline someone; test one's abilities. The new recruits were certainly put through their paces by the drill sergeant.

put through one's paces|paces|put|put through

v. phr., informal To test the different abilities and skills of a person or a thing; call for a show of what one can do. He put his new car through its paces. Many different problems put the new mayor through his paces in the first months of his term.

put someone through his or her paces

put someone through his or her paces
Test thoroughly to see what someone can do, as in We put the new programmer though her paces, and she passed with flying colors. The idiom can refer to things as well, as in When we put the electrical system through its paces, we blew a fuse. The expression alludes to testing a horse's ability in the various paces (trot, canter, and gallop). Its use referring to horses dates from the late 1700s; its figurative use was first recorded in 1871.