in the biblical sense
English
Etymology
Back-formation from know someone in the biblical sense.
Prepositional phrase
in the biblical sense
- Used other than with a figurative or idiomatic meaning: see biblical, sense.
- (euphemistic) Carnally; sexually.
- 1993, Harold Miles, Bad ol' boy, page 122:
- I was married to you the moment I took you as my wife. That first night I pushed you backward on your bed and took you in the Biblical sense, from that moment on, we were man and wife.
- 1993 February 26, “NOTORIOUS WOMEN RECOVER FROM THEIR LOVE AFFAIRS”, in Ind_Geraldo (Rivera):
- Unidentified Man 2: How you doing? I've got a question for Pamela. How many rock stars have you met in your whole life? Ms-DES-BARRES: Oh, my gosh. Man 2: Any idea? Any idea or... Ms-LEE: He didn't ask how many you slept with. Ms-DES-BARRES: That's good. RIVERA: You mean met in the biblical sense? Man 2: I mean met and been with. Ms-DES-BARRES: I didn't sleep with that many of them.
- 2012 March 23, Lanford Beard, “TV Jukebox: 'The Secret Circle,' 'The Voice,' 'Switched at Birth,' and more music-on-TV moments”, in Entertainment Weekly:
- The young witches made their relationship official — in the Biblical sense — and Welch’s howling entreaty, “I’d do anything to make you stay,” expressed their yearning and desperation.
- 2012, Etienne, Trial, page 28:
- Well, I'm no longer seeing him in the biblical sense, but I do run him from time to time.
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Usage notes
- Often used to suggest something sexual about a phrase not normally so taken.
Synonyms
- (carnally): biblically
See also
- as the actress said to the bishop
- Ugandan