Riot Act
an English statute of 1715 providing that if 12 or more persons assemble unlawfully and riotously, to the disturbance of the public peace, and refuse to disperse upon proclamation they shall be considered guilty of felony.
Idioms about Riot Act
read someone the riot act,
to reprimand; censure: The principal read them the riot act for their behavior at the assembly.
to give (someone) a sharp warning.
Words Nearby Riot Act
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use Riot Act in a sentence
A woman called in to read Stone Cold the Riot Act for not giving her family autographs at an event.
Meet Mariann From Brooklyn, Howard Stern’s Biggest Fan | Kevin Fallon | February 28, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTImagine that Israeli ambassadors in EU capitals were summoned to the local foreign ministries and read the Riot Act.
Run line had on her the effect of the reading of the Riot Act.
Auld Licht Idylls | J. M. BarrieHe boldly approached the mob, and, halting the soldiers at no great distance from them, began to read the Riot Act.
Hurricane Hurry | W.H.G. KingstonIt also means that the Riot Act has been read to Garwood by some people who are in a position to read it.
The Boss of Wind River | David Goodger (goodger@python.org)
My dearest friend, why, in the name of every thing sacred, have the Riot Act read?
Great Events in the History of North and South America | Charles A. GoodrichHarris raged and sputtered and the coaches stood over the unfortunate Trow and read him the Riot Act.
Left Tackle Thayer | Ralph Henry Barbour
British Dictionary definitions for Riot Act
criminal law (formerly in England) a statute of 1715 by which persons committing a riot had to disperse within an hour of the reading of the act by a magistrate
read the riot act to someone to warn or reprimand someone severely
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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