catch hell

present singular third person catches hell · participle present catching hell · participle past caught hell · past caught hell

1. idiomaticslangTo be severely reprimanded, punished, or beaten.

   1 more example

   It’s not exactly a Pixar-level examination of complicated family dynamics, and the movie still has plenty of knuckled-headed, Sandler-style boys-will-be-dumbasses shtick: Children everywhere will surely thrill to the sub-subplot about Frank catching hell about his gambling problem from his wife, Eunice (Fran Drescher)!

   2018 July 10, Jesse Hassenger, “Improbably but amusingly, Hotel Transylvania 3 notches a series best”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 09 Jul 2018

   Synonyms: catch it, cop it, get it

2. idiomaticslanguncommonTo experience troubling or difficult times.

   I'm catching hell living here alone / Hmm, I never realized, oh, Lord / That you mean so much to me / I'm catching hell living here alone

   1977, Natalie Cole, “I'm Catching Hell”, in Unpredictable

   1 more example

   The family on the other side of town / Would catch hell without a ghetto around / In every city you find the same thing going down / Harlem is the capital of every ghetto town / Help me sing it

   1972, Bobby Womack, “Across 110th Street”, in Across 110th Street