rain fire and brimstone

Definitions

To send horror or destruction.

idiomatic, transitive

Equivalents

Examples

“That day I raised my hand and swore obedience and loyalty to God, country and the Marine Corps, not necessarily in that order⟳, and promised to rain⟳ fire and brimstone upon all enemies happened to be only two weeks after the buildup of troops began in Vietnam with the landing of the Ninth Marine Expeditionary Brigade at Da Nang on 9 March⟳ 1965.”

“"After punching him, and making a report⟳, how do I go back and with a ridiculous question⟳ like⟳ that?" / "Unless you think⟳ I am lying you have⟳ to. You have⟳ no choice." / "What if I don't?" / "I will rain⟳ fire and brimstone on you."”

“Even before the global financial crisis flared up, various critics and interested parties rained fire and brimstone upon globalization on several counts. Globalization hampered efforts to shield the environment and lift⟳ the living standards of workers. In developed countries cheap foreign imports seemingly turned domestic workers out of doors.”

“Cyrus Barron straightened to his full height and looked for all the world like⟳ some old revival preacher raining fire and brimstone on his congregation.”

“Yet, if [Chris] Colabello is clean⟳ and this really was an accident, then he’d better fight⟳ the results with all his might. He’d better rain⟳ fire and brimstone down on supplement companies.”

CEFR level