Word.ws English Dictionary

gives someone what-for

gives someone what-for is the third-person singular simple present indicative 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 gives someone what-for

What is gives someone what-for the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Gives someone what-for is the third-person singular simple present indicative of give someone what-for.

Words near gives someone what-for in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gives 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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