scold

scold (one) about (something)

To rebuke, upbraid, or criticize one about some problem, error, mistake, or wrongdoing. The manager scolded the entire team about the disastrous launch of their latest product. He scolded his daughter about the crayon marks all over the walls.
See also: scold

scold (one) for (something)

To rebuke, upbraid, or criticize one for some failure, error, mistake, or wrongdoing they have committed. The manager scolded him in front of entire team for being late again. He scolded his daughter for drawing all over the walls with her crayons. I had better go study. I don't need my parents scolding me for another low test score.
See also: scold
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

not let someone catch someone doing something

 and not want to catch someone doing something
an expression that scolds someone who has done something wrong. (The idea is that the person ought not to do the wrong thing again, not that the person simply avoid getting caught.) How many times have I told you not to play ball in the house? Don't let me catch you doing that again. If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times: Don't do that! I don't want to catch you doing it again!
See also: catch, let, not

scold someone about something

to rebuke or chastise someone about something. How many times have I scolded you about that? Please don't scold me about something I didn't do.
See also: scold

scold someone for something

to rebuke or chastise someone for doing something. The manager scolded the worker for misplacing the door key. The teacher scolded all the students for their bad behavior.
See also: scold
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • scold (one) about (something)
  • scold about
  • scolding
  • scold for
  • scold (one) for (something)
  • rebuke
  • rebuke (someone or something) for (doing) (something)
  • rebuke for
  • reprimand
  • reprimand (someone or something) for (doing) (something)
References in periodicals archive
Scold Alarm also provides other vocal impersonations to get you up and on your feet, ready to do battle with the world, including a Mafia Capo ("Don't make me mad, okay, I was in a good mood..."), Beach Cop ("Okay, Sleepin' Beauty, time to rise 'n shine..."), Caribbean Pirate ("Still sleepin', are ye?
U.S. Army Drill Instructor Available to Roust You Out of Bed
Today, Stafford's Scold's Bridle is in the safekeeping of the Staffordshire County Museum Service.
Stafford's scold's bridle
Mary Careless has the dubious honour of being the last woman in Stafford to be sentenced to the Scold's Bridle.
LAST WOMAN TO BE SENTENCED TO THE 'SCOLD'S BRIDLE'
I couldn't put it in words then, but if I were to verbalize my feelings now, I would probably want to know how was it not cruel for young men to be scolded like that so early in the morning.
DO They Cry
Although Story agrees with these earlier interpretations of Edwards's thinking, he argues that historians have overlooked the fact that only a small fraction of his thousand sermons reflect his "scold" philosophy.
Jonathan Edwards and the Gospel of Love
She also admits that the word scold (of Germanic origin) had numerous Latin variants, including litigatrix.
Venemous Tongues: Speech and Gender in Late Medieval England
Do you love to be scolded when you already agree with the scolder?
Gotcha for Guys! Nonfiction Books to Get Boys Excited About Reading
At the conclusion of the project, the interviews with adults revealed that while adults are hardly ever scolded, and never by someone who is twice their size, they do not like being scolded any more than children do.
Scolding: Why It Hurts More Than It Helps
As well as the scold's bridle, there is the Town Hutch from the 16th Century.
Freemen who sat on their symbols of power ( and women who were cruelly silenced
A rodent mother can't scold or praise her offspring, but her approach to mothering lays a genetic foundation for her pups' lifelong response to threats, neuroscientists have found.
Groomed DNA handles threats: mothering styles alter rats' stress responses
But rather than scold Simon Peter and us, it occurs to me that, regardless of whether Moses really used the veil to hide the fading of his facial glow, Paul is correct.
Pastoral reflection
Those who resist are subjected to beatings and scold's bridles; their bones are crushed until they are "softened" into compliance.
Bishop, Anne. Shadows and light
One out of four Japanese mothers ignore mood changes in their babies and one out of 10 scold them severely, according to a university survey released Friday on mothers with 1-month-olds.
27% of Japanese mothers indifferent to their babies: poll
I don't want to come off as a scold. But I fear that I will.
Who cares? (Marginal)
On March 9, pre-eminent public scold Michele Landsberg (a.k.a.
Update: Anti-Catholic media blitz. (News in Brief: Canada)