Meaning: battle of wits

n.
a contest in which intelligence rather than violence is used

wits Idiom, Proverb

at my wits' end

very tired and nervous, at the end of my rope After a wedding and a funeral she was at her wits' end.

match wits

compete with someone's wit or humor Don't try to match wits with Pat. He has a reply for everything.

live by/on one's wits

live by dishonest means 靠行骗为生；靠小聪明过日子
Unable to get a job when he left school，the boy lived by his wits and in the end turned to crime．这个男孩毕业以后找不到工作，靠行骗过日子，结果犯了罪。

live by one's wits

live on one's wits

out of one's wits

1．mad发疯
He is out of his wits．他疯了。
His provocative remark nearly drove me out of my wits．他的挑衅性的话简直把我气疯了。
2．greatly upset不知所措
He was frightened out of his wits．他被吓得不知如何是好。
The enemy，scared out of their wits，were routed，and all of us laughed for joy．敌人吓得惊慌失措，溃不成军，而我们却高兴得放声大笑。

slow in one's wits

stupid；dull愚笨
He is somewhat slow in his wits．他有点笨。

keep one's wits about one

Idiom(s): keep one's wits about one

Theme: SURVIVAL

to keep one's mind operating in a time of stress.
• If Jane hadn't kept her wits about her during the fire, things would have been much worse.
• I could hardly keep my wits about me.

frighten the wits out of

Idiom(s): frighten the wits out of sb AND frighten the living daylights out of sb; scare the living daylights out of sb; scare the wits out of sb

Theme: FRIGHT

to frighten someone very badly. (The living can be left out.)
• We nearly had an accident. It frightened the living daylights out of me.
• The incident scared the wits out of me.

frighten one out of one's wits

Idiom(s): frighten one out of one's wits AND scare one out of one's wits

Theme: FRIGHT

to frighten one very badly.
• Oh! That loud noise scared me out of my wits.
• I'll give him a good scolding and frighten him out of his wits.

scare the wits out of

scare one out of one's wits

At your wits' end

If you are at your wits' end, you have no idea what to do next and are very frustrated.

at one's wit's end|at wits end|wit|wit's end|wits

adj. phr. Having no ideas as to how to meet a difficulty or solve a problem; feeling puzzled after having used up all of your ideas or resources; not knowing what to do; puzzled. He had approached every friend and acquaintance for help in vain, and now he was at his wit's end. The designer was at his wit's end: he had tried out wings of many different kinds but none would fly.
Compare: AT A LOSS, END OF ONE'S ROPE.

have one's wits about one|have|wits

v. phr. To be alert; remain calm; not panic. Sam was the only one who kept his wits about him when the floodwaters of the Mississippi broke into our yard.

keep one's head|head|keep|keep one's wits about on

v. phr. To stay calm when there is trouble or danger. When Tim heard the fire alarm he kept his head and looked for the nearest exit.
Compare: COUNT TO TEN.
Antonym: LOSE ONE'S HEAD.

scare out of one's wits|daylights|out of one's wit

v. phr., informal To frighten very much. The owl's hooting scared him out of his wits. The child was scared stiff in the dentist's chair. Pete's ghost story scared the daylights out of the smaller boys.

by one's wits

by one's wits
see live by one's wits.

have one's wits about one

have one's wits about one
Also, keep one's wits about one. Remain alert or calm, especially in a crisis. For example, After the collision I had my wits about me and got his name and license number, or Being followed was terrifying, but Kate kept her wits about her and got home safely. [Early 1600s]

scare out of one's wits

scare out of one's wits
Also, frighten out of one's wits; scare stiff or silly or to death or the living daylights out of or the pants off. Terrify, make one panic, as in When the lights went out, she was scared out of her wits, or I was scared stiff that I would fail the driver's test. The first of these hyperbolic terms, scare out of one's wits, is the oldest and, like silly, suggests one is frightened enough to lose one's mind. The verb scare dates from about 1200, and out of one's wits was first recorded in William Tyndale's translation of the Bible in 1526 (I Corinthians 14:23): “Will they not say that ye are out of your wits?” They were first put together in 1697, the same period from which came scare out of one's seven senses, a usage now obsolete. The variant using daylights, which sometimes occurs without living, dates from the 1950s. Daylights at one time referred to the eyes but here means “vital organs.” Frighten to death was first recorded in Charles Dickens's Barnaby Rudge (1840) and scare to death probably appeared about the same time. However, to death used as an intensifier dates from the 1500s. These terms allude to the fact that a sudden fright can precipitate cardiac arrest. Scare stiff, first recorded in 1905, alludes to the temporary paralysis that can accompany intense fear. For the last variant, see also under pants off, the.