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take over the coals

 - 3 dictionary results

coal

  [kohl]
Use take over the coals in a Sentence
–noun
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).
–verb (used with object)
4. to burn to coal or charcoal.
5. to provide with coal.
–verb (used without object)
6. to take in coal for fuel.
—Idioms
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.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME cole, OE col; c. D kool, G Kohle, ON kol

Related forms:
coalless, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

coal 
O.E. col "charcoal, live coal," from P.Gmc. *kula(n), from PIE base *g(e)u-lo- "live coal." Meaning "mineral consisting of fossilized carbon" is from 1253. First mentioned (370 B.C.E.) by Theophrastus in his treatise "On Stones" under the name lithos anthrakos (see anthrax). Traditionally good luck, coal was given as a New Year's gift in England, said to guarantee a warm hearth for the coming year. The phrase drag (or rake) over the coals was a reference to the treatment meted out to heretics by Christians. To carry coals to Newcastle (1606) Anglicizes Gk. glauk eis Athenas "owls to Athens."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Science Dictionary
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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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