[kohl] 
| 1. | a black or dark-brown combustible mineral substance consisting of carbonized vegetable matter, used as a fuel. Compare anthracite, bituminous coal, lignite. |
| 2. | a piece of glowing, charred, or burned wood or other combustible substance. |
| 3. | charcoal (def. 1). |
| 4. | to burn to coal or charcoal. |
| 5. | to provide with coal. |
| 6. | to take in coal for fuel. |
| 7. | heap coals of fire on someone's head, to repay evil with good in order to make one's enemy repent. |
| 8. | rake, haul, drag, call, or take over the coals, to reprimand; scold: They were raked over the coals for turning out slipshod work. |
| rake 1 (rāk) n.
v. tr.
rake upTo revive or bring to light; uncover: rake up old gossip. Idiom(s): rake over the coalsTo reprimand severely. [Middle English, from Old English raca; see reg- in Indo-European roots.] rak'er n. |
| coal (kōl) Pronunciation Key
A dark-brown to black solid substance formed from the compaction and hardening of fossilized plant parts in the presence of water and in the absence of air. Carbonaceous material accounts for more than 50 percent of coal's weight and more than 70 percent of its volume. Coal is widely used as a fuel, and its combustion products are used as raw material for a variety of products including cement, asphalt, wallboard and plastics. See more at anthracite, bituminous coal, lignite. |
rake over the coals
Also, haul over the coals. Reprimand severely, as in When Dad finds out about the damage to the car, he's sure to rake Peter over the coals, or The coach hauled him over the coals for missing practice. These terms allude to the medieval torture of pulling a heretic over red-hot coals. [Early 1800s]