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Glite Dictionary
to fix someone's wagon

to fix someone's wagon

1 9.6
Punish someone for something they did to you
  • idiom
  • Offensive
: ajustar cuentas a alguien
  • ♪ ♪ You mean that a King who fought a dragon, ♪ ♪ Whacked him in two and fixed his wagon, ♪ ♪ goes to be wed in terror and distress?

Examples

  • I've, uh, told the boys to go ahead and fix his wagon.

    The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)

  • I want to fix his wagon.

    One-Eyed Jacks (1961)

  • Oh, I'll fix his wagon.

    The Gingerweed Man (2021)

  • After his betrayal, I decided it was time to fix his wagon and teach him a lesson he wouldn't forget.

  • When she spread those rumors about me, I knew I had to fix her wagon by exposing the truth.

  • He thought he could get away with cheating, but I was ready to fix his wagon and show him there are consequences.

Synonyms

to punish
vsto fix someone's wagon
772 1.0

Make someone suffer for doing something wrong

often lacks revenge aim and can be formal or corrective
to teach someone a lesson
vsto fix someone's wagon
  • Informal
120 4.2

Punish someone so they learn not to do it again

may also mean exact revenge or harsh retaliation instead of correction
to get back at
vsto fix someone's wagon
  • Informal
94 5.6

To do something to hurt someone because they hurt you

can also mean teaching or formal penalty not only retaliation
to retaliate
vsto fix someone's wagon
82 7.3

To hurt someone because they hurt you

may include measured punishment or correction rather than purely retaliation
to fix
vsto fix someone's wagon
  • Informal
48 8.2

To get revenge on someone for something they did

is broader and includes punishment or teaching not only personal revenge
to revenge
vsto fix someone's wagon
16 4.2

To harm someone because they hurt you or someone you care about

may be less personal and include correction or formal sanctions
to pay back
vsto fix someone's wagon
  • Informal
11 3.2

Do something to someone to hurt them for what they did

can also cover punishment aimed at learning not only settling scores
to correct
vsto fix someone's wagon
6 7.7

To scold or punish someone to improve their behavior

is harsher and can aim at revenge rather than improvement

Antonyms

to reward
308 1.3

To give something to someone to thank them for doing something good

How Severe

to ruin
∞ 2.0
to fix someone's wagon
  • Offensive
1 9.6
to punish
772 1.0
to reprimand
  • Formal
33 6.1
to tell off
  • Informal
20 4.2

Surface Forms

fix someone's wagon infinitive
fixed someone's wagon past
fixed someone's wagon past participle
fixing someone's wagon present participle
fixes someone's wagon third person singular

Morphology

fix + someone's + wagon

The meaning 'to punish or get revenge' is not transparently built from 'fix' (commonly 'repair') + 'wagon' (a vehicle); the literal idea of repairing someone's wagon does not map onto punishment or retaliation. This is a culturally/historically idiomatic use of 'fix' and requires prior exposure or explanation, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituents would not reliably infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Fix someone's wagon may come from old American towns. One popular story says people would fix a travel wagon by damaging it so the owner was left stuck and others could punish or trick them, and that's why the phrase now means 'to punish' or 'get revenge'.