English

Verb

give someone what for

1. (idiomatic, slang) To punish; to rebuke.
   • 2007, Wilbur Smith, The Sound of Thunder, p. 135:

     She gave him what for all right. But you could see she was ever so pleased and she went around telling everybody about it.

   • 2002, Joss Whedon, "The Ballad of Jayne Cobb" in "Jaynestown", Firefly.

     He robbed from the rich, and he gave to the poor / Stood up to The Man and he gave him what for.

   • 1912, Edward Burke, Bachelor's Buttons: The Candid Confessions of a Shy Bachelor, p. 133:

     ... 'e gived 'em up, an' repented somethin' horrid — there still bein' the buns to come — but Miss Soapy she gave 'im what- for-proper, she did!

Quotations

• For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:give someone what for.

Synonyms

• give someone a piece of one's mind
• let someone have it