Idiom
rake over the coals
Meaning
To call to task or to reprimand severely.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The boss raked him over the coals for being late.”
“After the project failed, the manager raked the entire team over the coals during the meeting.”
“The committee raked the director over the coals for his poor financial decisions, demanding a full explanation for the missing funds.”
Examples
simple
“The boss raked him over the coals for being late.”
contextual
“After the project failed, the manager raked the entire team over the coals during the meeting.”
complex
“The committee raked the director over the coals for his poor financial decisions, demanding a full explanation for the missing funds.”
Origin
The earliest example given is from 1565: "S. Augustine, that knewe best how to fetche an heretike ouer the coles." (OED). From the practice of dragging or raking heretics over coals performed by the Catholic Church as a form of torture.
Key words
Related idioms
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