read the riot act
read the riot act is the alternative form of read someone the riot act.
Meaning of read someone the riot act
Verb
read someone the riot act (third-person singular simple present reads someone the riot act, present participle reading someone the riot act, simple past and past participle read someone the riot act)
- To scold or berate somebody; to reprimand.
- She really read him the riot act about his smoking habit.
- To give a formal warning for a riotous assembly to disperse, usually through reading a section of the Riot Act.
- ‘Nothing but vigorous measures will do in these times, Grummer,’ said the magistrate, in a determined manner. ‘If the authority of the king’s officers is set at naught, we must have the riot act read. If the civil power cannot protect these windows, Grummer, the military must protect the civil...1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “(please specify the chapter name)”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC
Verb capitalized: read the Riot Act
read the Riot Act (third-person singular simple present reads the Riot Act, present participle reading the Riot Act, simple past and past participle read the Riot Act)
- Alternative form of read someone the riot act
- To take infinite precautions, they complained, against the juvenile perusal of such eminently innocuous literature was like reading the Riot Act on an uninhabited island.1911, Saki [pseudonym; Hector Hugh Munro], “Ministers of Grace”, in The Chronicles of Clovis, London: The Bodley Head
- I'd read the Riot Act. They'll be lootin' this house next!1917 June (first performance), John Galsworthy, “The Foundations (an Extravagant Play)”, in Plays: Fourth Series, volume IV, London: Duckworth and Co. […], published 1920, →OCLC, Act III, page 63
Forms of read the riot act
| third-person singular present | reads the riot act |
|---|---|
| present participle | reading the riot act |
| past participle | read the riot act |
| past | read the riot act |
| third-person singular present | reads the Riot Act |
| present participle | reading the Riot Act |
| past participle | read the Riot Act |
| past | read the Riot Act |
Questions about read the riot act
- What is read the riot act the alternative form of?
- Read the riot act is the alternative form of read someone the riot act.
- What part of speech is read the riot act?
- Read the riot act is a verb.
- What is the past tense of read the riot act?
- The past tense of read the riot act is read the riot act.
Words near read the riot act in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: read the riot act (page history and authors); read the Riot Act (page history and authors); read someone the riot act (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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Cite this entry: “read the riot act.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/read_the_riot_act. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.