call names

Idioms  

1. Verbally abuse someone, use offensive epithets, as in The teacher told the children to stop calling names. This idiom was first recorded in the late 1600s but Shakespeare used a similar expression earlier in Richard III (1:3): “That thou hadst called me all these bitter names.”

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Example Sentences

“Everyone else you call names and mistreat and then falsely claim you are a victim…@pmddomingos.”

From The Verge • Mar. 5, 2021

"They weren't abusive and they didn't call names," the fourth alum recalled.

From Fox News • Sep. 14, 2020

But, she said, “You’ll note that nowhere in the statement do we call names or label people as ‘Christian nationalists.’

From Salon • Aug. 10, 2019

While my mother first told, then asked and ultimately begged them, "Please don't fight, please don't call names," she was countermanded by my father.

From Washington Post • Jul. 4, 2018

They are like children, she thought crossly, daring each other to go first, ready to turn and call names at whoever comes last; she pushed her plate away from her and sighed.

From "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson