tell someone where to shove it

verb

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see tell, someone, where, shove, it.

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Meanings

verbtell someone where to shove it (third-person singular simple present tells someone where to shove it, present participle telling someone where to shove it, simple past and past participle told someone where to shove it)

present singular third person tells someone where to shove it · participle present telling someone where to shove it · participle past told someone where to shove it · past told someone where to shove it · alternative tell someone where to stick it

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see tell, someone, where, shove, it.
  2. colloquialeuphemisticidiomaticvulgarTo express extreme anger, disgust, or hatred toward someone.

    They're either telling you where to shove it, if you're winning, or telling you where they'd like to shove it given half the chance.

    2012, Lou Wakefield, Hot to Trot, →ISBN
    1 more example

    But for two pins I'd hand in blank papers and tell school where to shove Pythagoras triangles and Lord of the Flies and their life cycles of worms.

    2014, David Mitchell, The Bone Clocks, →ISBN, page 4

Origin

Euphemistic allusion to the expression shove it up your ass.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

tell someone where to shove it. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tell%20someone%20where%20to%20shove%20it

MLA

“tell someone where to shove it.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tell%20someone%20where%20to%20shove%20it. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tell someone where to shove it,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tell%20someone%20where%20to%20shove%20it.

Source: tell someone where to shove it on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.