Word.ws English Dictionary

gave someone what-for

gave someone what-for is the simple past of give someone what-for.

Meaning of give someone what-for

Verb

give someone what-for (third-person singular simple present gives someone what-for, present participle giving someone what-for, simple past gave someone what-for, past participle given someone what-for)

  1. (idiomatic) To admonish or berate; to speak angrily at somebody.
    • He really gave the kid what-for about the baseball through his window.

Questions about gave someone what-for

What is gave someone what-for the simple past of?
Gave someone what-for is the simple past of give someone what-for.

Words near gave someone what-for in the dictionary

  1. gave someone the time
  2. gave someone their cards
  3. gave someone their flowers
  4. gave someone to understand
  5. gave someone what for
  6. gave someone what-for
  7. gave someone wood
  8. gave something a go
  9. gave something a miss
  10. gave something a shot
  11. gave something a try

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gave someone what-for (page history and authors); give someone what-for (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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