lay into

British  

verb

1. to attack forcefully

2. to berate severely

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lay into Idioms  

1. Attack physically, The boys ganged up and laid into Bobby .

2. 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 .

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lay into

Watching the former supermodel lay into the young hopeful in front of millions of viewers still ranks as one of the show's most shocking moments, 20 years later.

From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2026

But instead of continuing to lay into the Directors Guild of America members, Kimmel praised, the below-the-line workers who stood with their guilds, bringing a group onstage to be applauded.

From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2024

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

That said, I still did lay into a lot of toilet paper.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2020

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

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