raise hell

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
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

raise hell

(with something) Go to raise the devil (with something).
See also: hell, raise
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

raise hell

see under raise Cain.
See also: hell, 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 hell

1 make a noisy disturbance. 2 complain vociferously. informal
See also: hell, raise
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 hell

verb
See raise the devil with someone
See also: hell, raise

raise hell

verb
See raise the devil with something
See also: hell, 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
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

raise

Cain/the devil/hell
1. To behave in a rowdy or disruptive fashion.
2. To reprimand someone angrily.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
See also:
  • play (merry) hell with (someone or something)
  • play hell
  • play hell with
  • play hell with somebody/something
  • play hell with someone/something
  • play hell with something
  • hell of a lot of (something)
  • hell and high water
  • be hell on
  • be hell on (one)
References in periodicals archive
Let's hope they raise hell. And let's hope they have a hell of a time making the world a better place.
Raise hell - and have fun doing it
After Swindon attempted to raise Hell into the heavens, three more planets were recognized.
Raising hell: what the heck is the deal with Pluto being out in the cold?
WARWICKSHIRE schoolboy turned TV chef Gordon Ramsay is about to raise hell in the States for the second time.
Gordon set to again grill US students
Rather than raise hell over his dismissal, Eggleton quietly took up a seat in the Liberal backbenches.
Egg's back on top
Pontypool-born professional skateboarder Lee Dainton, 30, said: 'People won't let us in because they think we're going to raise hell.
Lee's off party list
As I've cautioned my daughters, when you talk about heaven--biblically speaking--you're liable to raise hell.
Faith on the run: why I'm still a Baptist
in an education or the freedom to raise hell when things are not going
Urban warfare: will feature articles such as this
"We are going to raise hell," Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal of the Anglican Church in Jerusalem told Reuters.
Gaza church bombed
Raise hell, in other words, instead of allowing business-as-usual.
Rattling zoo cages. (Advice & dissent: letters from our readers)
It's six months before the withdrawal takes effect: Raise hell with your Congressperson.
Mission Unilateralism
"If this project doesn't go out to bid within two to four weeks, we should raise hell," Taylor said during her presentation called "Civic Design Politics, Pennsylvania Station and the Future of Lower Manhattan"
SOM chairman urges industry to push for Penn Station project
The play is basically a nostalgia-fest where a group of senior citizens recall their lost youth while attempting to raise hell in the present.
Dismal use of classy cast; You're Only Young Twice Malvern Festival Theatre
Show them how to follow voting records and encourage them to raise hell with incumbents who sell out.
Letters to the Editor
In 1861, an editorial in The Chicago Times emphasized that it is a newspaper's duty to "print the news and raise hell."
Things to come
Also featured are Oppenheim's "surrogate performers"--the manic, mechanical puppet-stars of Theme for a Major Hit, 1974, and Attempt to Raise Hell, 1974.
Dennis Oppenheim: Land and Body Art from the 1960s and '70s