Meanings
present singular third person hauls someone over the coals · participle present hauling someone over the coals · participle past hauled someone over the coals · past hauled someone over the coals
- UKidiomaticTo express anger with someone in no uncertain terms when they do something wrong.
The teacher hauled him over the coals for not doing his homework.
Synonyms: berate, give someone a dressing down, give someone a telling off, pull someone over the coals, rake over the coals, read someone the riot act, scold, tear a strip off someone
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo express anger with someone in no uncertain terms when they do something wrong.
Origin
In reference to a punishment once meted out to heretics.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
haul someone over the coals. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/haul%20someone%20over%20the%20coals
“haul someone over the coals.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/haul%20someone%20over%20the%20coals. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “haul someone over the coals,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/haul%20someone%20over%20the%20coals.
Source: haul someone over the coals on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.