haul somebody over the coals

haul somebody over the coals
To express anger with someone in no uncertain terms when they do something wrong.

The teacher hauled him over the coals for smoking in the toilets.

Syn: give somebody a dressing down, give somebody a telling off, read somebody the riot act, tell somebody off, tear a strip off somebody, tear someone a new one, tear someone a new asshole

Wikipedia foundation.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • haul somebody over the coals — haul sb over the ˈcoals idiom (BrE) (NAmE rake sb over the ˈcoals) to criticize sb severely because they have done sth wrong • I was hauled over the coals by my boss for being late. Main e …   Useful english dictionary

  • rake somebody over the coals — rake sb over the ˈcoals idiom (NAmE) (BrE haul sb over the ˈcoals) to criticize sb severely because they have done sth wrong Main entry: ↑rakeidiom …   Useful english dictionary

  • haul — ▪ I. haul haul 1 [hɔːl ǁ hɒːl] verb [transitive] 1. TRANSPORT if a train or truck hauls goods, it takes them from one place to another: • The freight train hauled the load of 240 tons with ease. • Union Pacific hauls garbage from Seattle to a …   Financial and business terms

  • haul — haul1 [ho:l US ho:l] v [T] [Date: 1200 1300; : French; Origin: haler to pull ] 1.) to pull something heavy with a continuous steady movement haul sth off/onto/out of etc sth ▪ She hauled her backpack onto her back. ▪ the steam locomotive which… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • tear a strip off somebody — verb To scold vigorously. The boss tore a strip off him for arriving late to the meeting. Syn: excoriate, give somebody a dressing down, haul somebody over the coals, give somebody a telling off, read somebody the riot act, tell somebody off …   Wiktionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”