knock spots off somebody/something
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishknock spots off somebody/somethingknock spots off somebody/somethingBritish English spokenBETTER to be much better than someone or something The new computer system knocks spots off the old one. → knockExamples from the Corpusknock spots off somebody/something• It certainly knocks spots off anything attempted by the newly-Thatcherising Conservatives in the run-up to the 1979 election.