to chew out
25
7.0
- phrasal verb
- /tʃu aʊt/
- Informal
- 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
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Watch on YouTubeAnd 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
116
4.6
To give someone a long serious talk that warns or scolds them about what they did
103
4.8
To speak in a short angry voice to give orders
78
5.6
Suddenly say angry things about someone by speaking or writing
58
8.1
To angrily tell someone off
54
2.2
Speak angrily to someone who has done something wrong
38
5.8
To say something in an angry, sharp voice
36
7.2
Scold someone angrily and severely
33
6.1
To tell someone they did something wrong, usually by a person in charge
25
6.9
To tell someone firmly that you do not approve of their actions
22
8.5
Shout at someone in a very angry way and threaten them
21
7.0
Tell someone you are unhappy with what they did
20
4.2
To speak angrily to someone for doing something wrong
20
6.3
To scold someone strongly for a mistake
11
8.2
To criticize someone very strongly and angrily
10
7.1
To scold someone angrily and severely
9
8.9
To speak angrily to someone for a long time
8
6.7
Shout loudly at someone because they did something wrong
6
7.9
Scold someone very strongly for a mistake
5
8.7
Tell someone angrily that they did something wrong
4
9.8
To scold someone very harshly
4
7.9
To tell someone strongly that they have done something wrong, often in front of others
3
8.0
To criticize someone or something very strongly in public
3
8.8
To scold someone strongly for something they did wrong
3
6.3
To angrily tell someone they did something wrong
1
8.5
To speak strongly to show you disagree
1
6.8
Tell someone angrily that they did something wrong
1
8.6
To scold someone very strongly for a mistake
1
9.3
To scold someone angrily for something they did
1
8.0
To speak to someone in a sudden angry way without good reason
1
9.1
To speak angrily to someone and criticize them
1
9.9
To tell someone angrily that you do not like what they did
1
8.1
To tell someone angrily that they did something wrong
To tell someone off angrily
Tell someone angrily that you are upset with them
Antonyms
How Severe
3
8.0
36
7.2
- Informal
25
7.0
54
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.