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I'm having difficulty choosing word for 'to clobber' in Japanese.

What I mean for this 'Clobber' is to beat thoroughly and conclusively in a fight competition. I wonder if I can use these words:

殴られる (as in ぶん殴る)
or
鍛える
or
ぶとばす
or
潰す

Can I use these forms in formal situation? Or it's strictly used in colloquial terms?

Any help is really appreciated.Thanks! (especially native speaker who can understand the nuance/words difference)

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殴る/ぶん殴る means "to punch", but does not have the consecutive nuance. ぶん殴る refers to landing a single, strong punch.

鍛える means "to train" (physically, e.g. muscles), so it can't be used here.

ぶっ飛ばす has a literal meaning of "to beat with enough power to send it flying". It has the same nuance as ぶん殴る, but can also be used for strong kicks.

潰す means "to crush", and has a very strong "stomping" image.

I would go for the following alternatives:

叩き潰す：　"to strike until it is crushed"

ボコボコにする： "to beat it to a pulp"

The words above are colloquial. Formally you would have to choose something closer to "to defeat" such as 倒す or 打ち負かす.

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  • Hello Walljam7, thanks for your help! Regarding the 潰す there are some variants that I find it interesting: 叩き潰す: to strike until it is crushed 打っ潰す: to smash violently 押し潰す: to squash, to crush, to flatten 擂り潰す: to grind, to mash, to pulverize 磨り潰す to grind, to mash, to pulverize 捻り潰す: to pinch and crush My deeper question would be: Is it to safe that I assume these words mean to beat thoroughly and conclusively (and implying consecutively)? If any, is there any difference between these: 擂り潰す: to grind, to mash, to pulverize 磨り潰す to grind, to mash, to pulverize Thanks!
    – Flonne
    Dec 10, 2015 at 13:55
  • I would like to hear other's opinions regarding my questions/comments before I finalize and conclude my question. Thank you!
    – Flonne
    Dec 10, 2015 at 14:08
  • 打っ潰す follows the same logic as ぶん殴る and ぶっ飛ばす, adding intensity to the action. They are mostly used to indicate anger/rage. 擂り潰す means "to spend all of one's money" (e.g. gambling). The other variants specify how crushing occurs and they are usually used for their literal meaning (e.g. 磨り潰す for pulverizing sesame seeds). However they are very rarely used because in almost all cases 潰す is enough. I wouldn't recommend using these ones for the meaning you are trying to convey. Use ぶっ潰す if you want to express anger.
    – walljam7
    Dec 10, 2015 at 15:04
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「ぶちのめす」is fitting for this situation. (Not formal.)

Definition: ひどくたたいて倒す。大きな打撃を与えて二度と立ち上がれないようにする。

Some examples here.

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