give someone hell

Definitions

1. To castigate someone; to dress them down.
   idiomatic
2. To torment; To make miserable.
3. To put up a fight against; to battle strongly and effectively.

Examples

“Near-synonym: raise⟳ hell”

“His boss really gave him hell when she found out that he'd been lying about filing the reports.”

“I gave it off to her and then I stormed right over to her husband, my colleague, and gave him hell as well .”

“He stopped calling me Space Barbie after Mike gave him hell last⟳ week.”

“When the hospital called and told him Roberta was missing, Dr. Meducca gave them hell.”

“I gave him hell about his sloppy uniform ; but don't worry⟳, I'll get⟳ him shaped up pretty damn quick .”

“Yes, she desired to see⟳ Edward suffer⟳. And, by God, she gave him hell . She gave him an unimaginable hell.”

“She's been giving me hell all week.”

“In the thirties, my cousin, Charley Gans, my brother Gershon and I "gave him hell" when he taught that garbage in our classes .”

“These guys have⟳ been giving me hell all morning.”

“A nickname of U.S. President Harry Truman was "Give⟳-'em-Hell Harry" because he could really give⟳ them hell when he wanted to.”

“Heine—the Canadians call⟳ their enemy Heine and not Fritz—"was at least three times as strong as us, and we gave him hell. It was hand-to-hand fighting —rifles, bombs, bayonets, butt ends —any old way of killing a man—"and we killed a lot.”

“I had warned my staff and the reporters that I was going out to win⟳ the election. "I'm going to fight⟳ hard," I told Senator Barkley. "I'm going to give⟳ them hell."”

“Our gunners were temporarily knocked out by gas but soon recovered and gave them hell, which caught their first infantry rush⟳, but they came on and advanced a mile and then their barrage slacked off a bit so as not to catch⟳ their own⟳ infantry.”

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