lay into
Britishverb
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to attack forcefully
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to berate severely
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Attack physically, The boys ganged up and laid into Bobby .
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Scold vigorously, as in The teacher laid into her aide when she learned he had left the children alone in the schoolyard . [Early 1800s] Also see pitch into .
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Emery has needed a way with words at times, refusing to lay into his players at half-time during the abject defeat by Tottenham at the start of the month.
From BBC ● May 20, 2026
In the third sketch, airing Dec. 10, 2011, the queen and Philip lay into Kate about not giving them a royal heir.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 20, 2022
It’s not for Roy to really lay into him the way he does with everyone else; it’s actually more devastating for him to just not be bothered at all.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2021
Last week on Michele Wolf’s new Netflix show, “The Break,” she decided to lay into the news media -- yet again -- for its obsessive coverage of Donald Trump.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2018
Before I got home, he wanted to lay into me.
From "Please Ignore Vera Dietz" by A.S. King
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
