be taken to the cleaners

In my eagerness to please, I accidentally complimented chipped baseboards and sacks of laundry waiting to be taken to the cleaners.

If you become a trader thinking you’re going to be an instant millionaire, your portfolio is going to be taken to the cleaners over time.

They included quips such as: “You won’t be taken to the cleaners … if your driving is spotless.”

“But I’m certainly not going to allow the people of New Jersey to be taken to the cleaners by New York.”

"We will be taken to the cleaners," he told the FT.