drag over the coals
haul over the coals
to give someone a hard time for a mistake they supposedly did
to scold or be angry at someone for doing something wrong
to rebuke harshly
My classmate Lily forgot to do her math homework as she had a function to attend in her family. The teacher raked her over the coals for that.
“You didn’t get her the present for her birthday? She is so going to drag you over the coals!”
He raked me over the coals when he found out that I lied to him about Jonah. Thankfully, we cleared things up soon after.
The scam was busted, and the people hauled the scam team over the coals for it. They’re sure regretting the moment they thought of the fraud.
Jenny was raked over the coals for violating the traffic rules.
It is not fair that Mathew gets raked over the coals every time something goes wrong in the school.
The terrorists should be raked over the coals as hard as they could be for killing innocent people.
There is no origin for this idiom
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definition
Common phrase that has a specific meaning.