Word.ws English Dictionary

giving what for

giving what for is the present participle and gerund of give what for.

Meaning of give what for

Verb

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

  1. (idiomatic, transitive) To scold; to punish, especially verbally.
    • When she found out, she really gave him what for.

Questions about giving what for

What is giving what for the present participle and gerund of?
Giving what for is the present participle and gerund of give what for.

Words near giving what for in the dictionary

  1. giving up the ghost
  2. giving vent to
  3. giving voice
  4. giving way
  5. giving weight
  6. giving what for
  7. giving with one hand and taking away with the other
  8. giving zero fucks
  9. givingness
  10. givings
  11. givinostat

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: giving what for (page history and authors); give 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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