dressing-down

[ dres-ing-doun ]
See synonyms for dressing-down on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a severe reprimand; scolding.

Origin of dressing-down

1
1860–65, Americanism; noun use (with -ing1) of verb phrase dress down

Words Nearby dressing-down

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use dressing-down in a sentence

  • Every day we tell each other that we are fine bunglers, and give each other a regular dressing down.

  • That fellow I gave a dressing-down about India to up at the Pratts' there.

    A Crooked Mile | Oliver Onions
  • Falstaff, the beery lout, would be an impossible companion, and Prince Hal a tiresome young cub who wanted a good dressing-down.

    The Unveiling of Lhasa | Edmund Candler
  • The few days towards the end of the season at the Old Virgin are a race between the ships at catching and dressing down.

    Pike & Cutlass | George Gibbs
  • Perhaps you gave her such a dressing-down, Billie, that shes turned over a new leaf.

    The Motor Maids' School Days | Katherine Stokes

British Dictionary definitions for dressing-down

dressing-down

noun
  1. informal a severe scolding or thrashing

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012