# have someone's hide

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/have-someones-hide
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

To punish or subdue someone.

## Examples

- If you break that vase, your mother will have your hide.
- The coach will have your hide for being late to practice.
- The boss warned the team that he would have their hide if they missed the deadline again.
- My landlord will have my hide if I keep making noise after midnight on a weekday.
- The chef said he would have the waiter's hide for dropping the expensive tray of food.
- The mechanic told his assistant that he would have his hide if he forgot to tighten the bolts on the car's wheels again.
- The king threatened to have the hide of any soldier who dared to desert his post during the heat of the battle.

## Origin

The expression represents an earlier phase of the metaphor found in the phrase to tan someone's hide. Linguists note that the cognitive effect observed in the usage notes for the term ass is operative here, where the hide is treated as the singular representative of the entire individual. The idiom remains a relic of an era when the skinning of a person was considered a suitable, if somewhat terminal, administrative consequence.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.