haul/rake over the coals, to
rake someone over the coals
and haul someone over the coalsFig. to give someone a severe scolding. My mother hauled me over the coals for coming in late last night. The manager raked me over the coals for being late again.
See also: coal, over, rake
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
rake over the coals
Also, haul over the coals. Reprimand severely, as in When Dad finds out about the damage to the car, he's sure to rake Peter over the coals, or The coach hauled him over the coals for missing practice. These terms allude to the medieval torture of pulling a heretic over red-hot coals. [Early 1800s]
See also: coal, over, rake
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
rake over the coals
To reprimand severely.
See also: coal, over, rake
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
haul/rake over the coals, to
To administer a severe reprimand. The term alludes to the medieval practice of pulling an alleged heretic over the coals of a slow fire, which is described in numerous sixteenth-century church chronicles. By the early nineteenth century the term had been transferred to more benign kinds of punishment, often signifying only a severe scolding, as in Byron’s poem “Beppo” (1818): “They’d haul o’er the coals.”
See also: haul, over, rake
rake over the coals
See haul over the coals.
See also: coal, over, rake
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- accompany (one) on a/(one's) journey
- accompany on a journey
- a stranger to (someone or something)
- be out of (one's) league
- be out of somebody's league
- be in bad with (someone)
- (one) puts (one's) pants on one leg at a time
- bargain
- bargain for (someone or something) with (someone)
- a dog in the manger