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
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
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.
