to teach someone a lesson
139
4.2
- idiom
- Informal
:
dar una lección a alguien
- This time we're really gonna teach him a lesson, aren't we?
- want to teach someone a lesson
- going to teach someone a lesson
- need to teach someone a lesson
Examples
-
"We were obliged to teach Morgan a lesson," Mr. Oakley said.
Academic text (1993) -
It's time to teach you two a lesson.
-
My old man was just trying to teach me a lesson.
-
I had to teach her a lesson.
-
You wanted to teach your boyfriend a lesson.
-
I'm doing him a service, teaching him a lesson.
-
Well, I'm gonna teach you a lesson.
-
I'm going to teach you a lesson.
-
Either she was a magnificent actress, or her parents had been determined to teach her a lesson she would not forget.
Fiction book (2000) -
My coach said that losing the match would teach me a lesson about hard work and dedication.
Synonyms
821
1.0
Make someone suffer for doing something wrong
65
7.7
To scold or punish someone to improve their behavior
47
3.4
To punish or train someone so they follow rules
33
7.6
To scold someone strongly for doing something wrong
31
6.8
To tell someone firmly to change or improve their behavior
18
6.3
To scold someone strongly for a mistake
9
6.5
To punish someone to warn other people not to do the same
5
8.3
Tell someone angrily that they did something wrong
1
8.7
Tell someone angrily that they did something wrong
1
7.9
To scold someone strongly and warn them of punishment
1
3.0
Make someone learn from an experience so they change how they act
To scold someone strongly for doing something wrong
To punish or scold someone strongly for making a mistake
Punish someone for something they did to you
Antonyms
How Severe
9
6.5
821
1.0
- Informal
139
4.2
- Formal
33
6.1
55
2.2
31
6.8
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'teach' and 'lesson' transparently signal causing someone to learn, so a learner who knows the words would grasp the general idea of making someone learn from an experience. However, the conventionalized meaning of doing this through punishment or reprimand (rather than literal instruction) is a non-literal, somewhat idiomatic extension that is not fully predictable without exposure, so it is best classified as semi-transparent.
Etymology
Teach someone a lesson comes from the simple image of a teacher who teaches a strict lesson to a student so the student learns not to do the same wrong thing. That's why it now means 'to punish or reprimand someone so they learn'.