haul over the coals
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Another way of performing the fire ordeal was by running through the flame of two fires built close together, or by walking over live brands; hence the phrase "to haul over the coals."
From General History for Colleges and High Schools by Myers, Philip Van Ness
Explain these phrases: "to be in hot water;" "to go through fire and water;" and "to haul over the coals."
From Early European History by Webster, Hutton
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.
