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.
It took Fury mere minutes to lay into Usyk, interrupting Krassyuk's opening statement.
From BBC ● Nov. 16, 2023
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
The worst thing was that I had no way to reach him, to lay into him and tell him what I thought.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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.
