Cain
raise Cain
To cause or get into trouble; to engage in unrestrained and excessively disruptive behavior. (A reference to the biblical figure Cain, the first son of Adam and Eve, who killed his brother Abel and was cursed by God.) I started raising Cain as soon as I was in college and could do what I wanted, but I mellowed out after I graduated. The customer has been raising Cain about the service charge we included on his bill.
See also: Cain, raise
raise hell
1. To cause a lot of serious issues or disruptions (for someone or something). The road closures have raised hell in this whole area. The blizzard is raising hell with travelers flying in and out of the region.
2. To cause or get into trouble; to engage in unrestrained and excessively disruptive behavior. I raised a lot of hell when I was in high school, but I settled down a bit after I graduated. The local gang has been raising hell in this town for years.
3. To make a lot of angry, vocal complaints with someone or some group, department, organization, etc. The problem isn't going to go away on its own—you need to go raise some hell so HR knows what's going on. The customer has been raising hell about the service charge we included on his bill.
See also: hell, raise
raise the devil
To cause or get into trouble; to engage in unrestrained and excessively disruptive behavior. I started raising the devil as soon as I was in college and could do what I wanted, but I mellowed out after I graduated. The customer has been raising the devil about the service charge we included on his bill.
See also: devil, raise
the mark of Cain
An association of disgrace or public disapproval over some crime, wrongdoing, personal failing, or controversial action. An allusion to the Biblical figure Cain, the eldest of Adam and Eve's sons, who murdered his brother Abel out of jealousy and was then cursed by God. I wonder is it appropriate that she still bear the mark of Cain for something she did when she was but a teenager. The judge argued that issuing a lengthier sentence would have been a mark of Cain on an otherwise upstanding and motivated student.
See also: Cain, mark, of
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
raise Cain
to make a lot of trouble; to raise hell. (A Biblical reference, from Genesis 4.) Fred was really raising Cain about the whole matter. Let's stop raising Cain.
See also: Cain, raise
raise hell
(with something) Go to raise the devil (with something).
See also: hell, raise
raise the devil (with something)
and raise hell (with something)to cause trouble with something. That idea raises hell with my plan. The onions raised the devil with my stomach.
See also: devil, raise
raise the devil (with something)
and raise hell (with something)to cause trouble with something. That idea raises hell with my plan. The onions raised the devil with my stomach.
See also: devil, raise
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
raise Cain
Also, raise hell or the devil . Behave in a rowdy or disruptive way, as in He said he'd raise Cain if they wouldn't give him a refund, or The gang was out to raise hell that night, or The wind raised the devil with our picnic. The first term alludes to the son of Adam and Eve who killed his brother, Abel. It was first recorded in the St. Louis Daily Pennant (May 2, 1840): "Why have we every reason to believe that Adam and Eve were both rowdies? Because ... they both raised Cain.". This statement makes a pun on raise, meaning "bring up" or "nurturing." The two variants, alluding to bringing hell or the devil up to this world, are older, the first from about 1700, the second from about 1800.
See also: Cain, raise
raise hell
see under raise Cain.
See also: hell, raise
raise the devil
see under raise Cain.
See also: devil, raise
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
raise hell
COMMON
1. If someone raises hell, they cause trouble by behaving badly in public, for example by getting drunk and breaking things. When he wasn't playing football or training, he was going out with his mates and raising hell. Note: A hell-raiser is someone who frequently causes trouble by behaving badly in public. In his youth he had a reputation for being a hell-raiser. Note: Hell-raising can be used as a noun to describe behaviour like this, or as an adjective to describe a person or their behaviour. He was notorious for his hell-raising and heavy drinking. The hell-raising actor was fined £63 with £20 costs yesterday.
2. If someone raises hell about a situation, they complain very angrily about it. If you wake them, they'll raise hell. She came in and raised hell. Her son's sports bag was missing.
See also: hell, raise
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
raise Cain
create trouble or a commotion. informalThe sense of raise in this expression is that of summoning a spirit, especially an evil one; similar sayings include raise the Devil and raise hell . A mid 19th-century expression originating in the USA, the particular form raise Cain is possibly a euphemism to avoid using the words Devil or hell . Cain, according to the biblical book of Genesis, was the first murderer.
See also: Cain, raise
raise the devil
make a noisy disturbance. informalSee also: devil, raise
raise hell
1 make a noisy disturbance. 2 complain vociferously. informalSee also: hell, raise
the mark of Cain
the stigma of a murderer; a sign of infamy.According to the book of Genesis, God placed a mark on Cain after the murder of his brother Abel, originally as a sign that he should not be killed or harmed; this was later taken to identify him as a murderer (Genesis 4:15).
See also: Cain, mark, of
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
raise ˈCain/ˈhell
(informal) complain or protest noisily and angrily, often as a way of getting something you want: He’ll raise hell if we don’t finish on time. ▶ ˈhell-raiser noun a violent and destructive person Cain was the first murderer in the Bible.See also: Cain, hell, raise
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
raise Cain
(...ken) tv. to make a lot of trouble; to raise hell. Fred was really raising Cain about the whole matter.
See also: Cain, raise
raise hell
1. tv. to make a lot of trouble; to go on a rampage. Stop raising hell so much of the time!
2. tv. to go on a drinking spree and get drunk. Let’s go out and really raise hell.
See also: hell, raise
raise the devil
verbSee raise the devil with someone
See also: devil, raise
raise hell
verbSee raise the devil with someone
See also: hell, raise
raise the devil
verbSee raise the devil with something
See also: devil, raise
raise hell
verbSee raise the devil with something
See also: hell, raise
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
raise Cain, to
To make a disturbance. This nineteenth-century Americanism alludes to the wicked biblical Cain, who killed his brother Abel (Genesis 4:5). Raising Cain is equivalent to “raising the devil.” The earliest appearances of this expression in print date from the 1840s, but by the second half of the nineteenth century it had crossed the Atlantic and was used by Robert Louis Stevenson in Treasure Island (“I’m a man that has lived rough, and I’ll raise Cain”) and Rudyard Kipling in The Ballad of the Bolivar (“Seven men from all the world back to Docks again, / Rolling down the Ratcliffe Road, drunk and raising Cain”). A more straightforward synonym is to raise hell, an Americanism that dates from the late 1800s and gave rise to the slogan, “Kansas should raise less corn and more hell.”Yet another Americanism from the same period is to raise a ruckus, the noun ruckus possibly derived from rumpus.
See also: raise
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- raise
- raise Cain
- raise Cain, to
- raise Cain/hell
- raise the devil
- raise the dickens
- hell around
- lift/raise the roof
- raise the roof
- raise the roof, to