pick

calling down

calling down also dressing down {n. phr.}, {informal}

A scolding; reprimand.

The judge gave the boy a calling down for speeding.

Categories:

Source: A Dictionary of American Idioms

'calling down' on video

Subscribe to: American Idioms

English Slang

✉

See as well

answer one's calling

[answer one's calling] {v. phr.} To fulfill one's destiny in terms of work or profession by doing what one has a talent for. * /Don answered his calling when he […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

name calling

[name calling] See: [CALL NAMES]. A Dictionary of American Idioms

dressing down

[dressing down] {n.}, {informal} A scolding. * /The sergeant gave the soldier a good dressing down because his shoes were not shined./ A Dictionary of American Idioms

pot call the kettle black

[pot call the kettle black] {informal} The person who is criticizing someone else is as guilty as the person he accuses; the charge is as true of the person who […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

Slang is

"very informal usage in vocabulary and idiom that is characteristically more metaphorical, playful, elliptical, vivid and ephemeral than ordinary language" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary) - learn ~600 slang expressions

An idiom is

an expression "whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements… or from the general grammatical rules of a language"

Recent updates

Robert Reich [1946]

U.S. Labor Secretary There are only two kinds of people who predict the [stock] market on a day-to-day basis. Those who don't […]

get in with

[get in with] {v. phr.} To join up with; begin to associate with; be accepted by. * /He got in with the wrong gang of boys […]

make time

[make time] {v. phr.}, {slang} 1. To be successful in arriving at a designated place in short or good time. * /We're […]

Clarie Sargent, Arizona senatorial candidate

I think it's about time we voted for senators with breasts. After all, we've been voting for boobs long enough.

crack down

[crack down] {v. phr.}, {informal} To enforce laws or rules strictly; require full obedience to a rule. * /After a speeding […]

on the side

[on the side] {adv. phr.}, {informal} 1. In addition to a main thing, amount or quantity; extra. * /He ordered a hamburger […]