Idiom
raise Cain
Meaning
Synonym of raise hell.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The neighbors will raise Cain if you play music that loud.”
“When the manager announced the sudden budget cuts, the employees began to raise Cain in the meeting room.”
“The local residents threatened to raise Cain at the town hall assembly if the council proceeded with the controversial construction project.”
Examples
simple
“The neighbors will raise Cain if you play music that loud.”
contextual
“When the manager announced the sudden budget cuts, the employees began to raise Cain in the meeting room.”
complex
“The local residents threatened to raise Cain at the town hall assembly if the council proceeded with the controversial construction project.”
Origin
The expression references the biblical Cain, son of Adam and Eve, identified as the first murderer. To raise Cain is to theoretically summon him from the dead, thereby facilitating the return of his specific brand of violence to Earth.
Key words
Related idioms
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