give someone what for
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Verb
- (idiomatic, slang) To punish; to rebuke.
- 2007, Wilbur Smith, The Sound of Thunder, p. 135:
- She gave him what for all right. But you could see she was ever so pleased and she went around telling everybody about it.
- 2002, Joss Whedon, "The Ballad of Jayne Cobb" in "Jaynestown", Firefly.
- He robbed from the rich, and he gave to the poor / Stood up to The Man and he gave him what for.
- 1912, Edward Burke, Bachelor's Buttons: The Candid Confessions of a Shy Bachelor, p. 133:
- ... 'e gived 'em up, an' repented somethin' horrid — there still bein' the buns to come — but Miss Soapy she gave 'im what- for-proper, she did!
- 2007, Wilbur Smith, The Sound of Thunder, p. 135:
[edit] Quotations
- For more examples of the usage of this term see the citations page.
