Idiom: lay into someone

Meaning

Idiom: lay into someone

to yell at or strongly criticize someone
to attack someone physically

Example sentences

verbal attack:

— Last night I laid into my roommate for eating all my cookies.

— It really doesn't help when my husband lays into our daughter for getting poor grades when we know she's studying very hard and doing her best.

— I'm tired of you laying into Sarah about her grades. What she needs is support so I've hired I a tutor to come three times a week to help her.

— Our coach really laid into us for not preparing well during the off-season.

— Laying into your puppy for peeing on the carpet is not helping to change his behavior. I recommend you hire a professional trainer.

physical attack:

— I hate it when my boyfriend gets drunk because he looks for any opportunity to lay into someone.

— My son is in the hospital after an entire group of football players laid into him as he was walking home.

— Police were called when our neighbor laid into his wife and gave her a black eye.

Synonyms

physical attack

to give someone a tongue lashing
to chew someone out
to let someone have it
to jump all over someone
to come down on someone like a ton of bricks

verbal attack

to beat the hell out of someone
to rough up someone
to rip someone to pieces

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Idiom: lay into someone

Meaning

Example sentences

Synonyms

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