to chew out
13
7.0
- phrasal verb
- /tʃu aʊt/
- Informal
:
regañar
- One morning in late May, as the second day of a new session of Camp Bevo began, Taylor chewed out the assembled students, who were expected to be in attendance a full 15 minutes before the scheduled start time of 8 o'clock.
- got chewed out
- going to chew out
- want to chew out
And I'd get mad and, and chew them out and my ears would turn red.
- And I'd get mad and, and chew them out and my ears would turn red.
- I just got chewed out by my superiors and you want a Twix?
- And so I said, dad, a kid after school said he's going to chew me out.
Examples
-
"Salazar's got him in the office, chewing him out for coming in at four-fifty this morning."
Fiction book (1994) -
Mr. Tipton's chewed me out twice.
-
You chew me out in front of your friends!
-
Did he chew you out?
-
Thanks to you, I just spent two hours getting chewed out by the mayor.
-
At work, his boss chewed him out for not paying attention to anything going on around him.
Fiction book (1999) -
If you're just gonna chew me out some more, make it quick, okay?
-
I'm surprised you can walk after the way Burnham chewed you out this afternoon.
Fiction book (1993) -
I just got my ass chewed out by the mayor, who's mighty pissed off.
-
The manager chewed out the employee for missing the deadline.
Synonyms
91
4.8
To speak in a short angry voice to give orders
89
4.6
To give someone a long serious talk that warns or scolds them about what they did
71
5.6
Suddenly say angry things about someone by speaking or writing
55
2.2
Speak angrily to someone who has done something wrong
44
8.1
To tell someone angrily that they did something wrong
36
7.2
Scold someone angrily and severely
33
6.1
To tell someone they did something wrong, usually by a person in charge
26
6.9
To tell someone firmly that you do not approve of their actions
22
7.0
Tell someone you are unhappy with what they did
21
5.8
To say something in an angry, sharp voice
18
6.3
To scold someone strongly for a mistake
13
4.2
To speak angrily to someone for doing something wrong
12
8.2
To criticize someone very strongly and angrily
11
8.1
To angrily tell someone off
7
8.9
To speak angrily to someone for a long time
4
7.9
Scold someone very strongly for a mistake
3
8.8
To scold someone strongly for something they did wrong
3
7.9
To tell someone strongly that they have done something wrong, often in front of others
3
6.3
To angrily tell someone they did something wrong
3
9.8
To scold someone very harshly
2
7.1
To scold someone angrily and severely
1
8.5
Shout at someone in a very angry way and threaten them
1
8.5
To speak strongly to show you disagree
1
8.7
Tell someone angrily that they did something wrong
1
8.0
To criticize someone or something very strongly in public
1
8.6
To scold someone very strongly for a mistake
1
6.8
Tell someone angrily that they did something wrong
Shout loudly at someone because they did something wrong
To tell someone off angrily
To scold someone angrily for something they did
Tell someone angrily that you are upset with them
To tell someone angrily that you do not like what they did
To speak angrily to someone and criticize them
To speak to someone in a sudden angry way without good reason
Antonyms
How Severe
1
8.0
36
7.2
- Informal
13
7.0
55
2.2
- Formal
33
6.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
chew + out
The sense 'to reprimand harshly' is a metaphorical extension of 'chew' rather than a literal combination of 'chew' + 'out', and the particle 'out' does not transparently signal reprimand. A B1 learner who knows the constituents might notice a rough metaphorical link but would not reliably derive the exact meaning without prior exposure, so the expression is partially but not fully predictable.
Etymology
Chew out comes from a sharp image: the verb chew, meaning to bite, plus out makes you picture someone being 'chewed' by angry words, as if the speaker is biting them with speech. That's why chew out means 'to scold' or 'to reprimand' someone harshly.