give someone what for

present singular third person gives someone what for · participle present giving someone what for · past gave someone what for · participle past given someone what for

1. idiomaticslangTo punish; to rebuke.

   2002, Joss Whedon, "The Ballad of Jayne Cobb" in "Jaynestown", Firefly. He robbed from the rich, and he gave to the poor / Stood up to The Man and he gave him what for.

   2 more examples

   She gave him what for all right. But you could see she was ever so pleased and she went around telling everybody about it.

   2007, Wilbur Smith, The Sound of Thunder, page 135

   ... 'e gived 'em up, an' repented somethin' horrid — there still bein' the buns to come — but Miss Soapy she gave 'im what- for-proper, she did!

   1912, Edward Burke, Bachelor's Buttons: The Candid Confessions of a Shy Bachelor, page 133

   Synonyms: give someone a piece of one's mind, let someone have it, give it to someone, give what for, admonish, animadvert, bash, bawl out