as in to scold
to criticize (someone) severely or angrily especially for personal failings
got bawled out by the boss for missing another important deadline
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Recent Examples of bawl out
Women stopped to bawl out the police, who accepted this dressing-down with quiet embarrassment.
—
National Geographic, 11 Aug. 2020
National Geographic, 11 Aug. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bawl out
Verb
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At another meeting in May 2024, Grippo scolded female employees for not working hard enough, although the team was high-performing and employees worked long hours, the lawsuit said.—
Suhauna Hussain,
Los Angeles Times,
4 June 2025
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In January at the annual World Economic Forum, President Donald Trump scolded Brian Moynihan, the CEO of Bank of America.—
Ramishah Maruf,
CNN Money,
3 June 2025
Verb
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These days, nothing infuriates liberals more than to be lectured about the American plutocracy — not when Trump is perhaps the most brazenly corrupt president to hold the office in modern history.—
Alexander Heffner,
Chicago Tribune,
29 May 2025
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Maybe Healey can lecture them on how to sue Trump a hundred times and bankrupt a state on migrant hotel shelters.—
Joe Battenfeld,
Boston Herald,
27 May 2025
Verb
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In 2022, he was reprimanded for oxycodone trafficking.—
Armon Sadler,
VIBE.com,
22 May 2025
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The Supreme Court on Monday said Broward County Judge Mardi Levey Cohen will be reprimanded June 3 as part of discipline that also includes a 10-day suspension without pay.—
News Service Of Florida,
Sun Sentinel,
19 May 2025
Verb
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India blamed Pakistan for the attack, an accusation rejected by Islamabad.—
Billy Stockwell,
CNN Money,
31 May 2025
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Even the players and the manager blamed us, which of course was all nonsense.—
The Athletic FC Podcast,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
Verb
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But to chew out his boss--Edwin Stanton, secretary of war--would be more than just getting close to the line of insubordination.—
arkansasonline.com,
arkansasonline.com,
12 Feb. 2025
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Judge is chewing out the parties.—
Michael Gfoeller And David H. Rundell,
Newsweek,
16 Jan. 2025
Verb
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The document was quickly criticized for errors and citing studies that don’t exist, as first reported by NOTUS, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news site.—
Sandee LaMotte,
CNN Money,
3 June 2025
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Harry and Meghan have been criticized for making money out of projects that criticized the royal family, including through the multiyear, multimillion dollar Netflix deal that the Harry & Meghan documentary was part of.—
Jack Royston,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 June 2025
Verb
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But the game changer, a change in field practices that drove use of force on crisis calls down by 68% over a four-year period, was a different type of training — a mandatory one that Anderson helped craft.—
CalMatters,
Mercury News,
5 May 2025
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The next day the family was called down to the station to pick up Skip.—
Janine Rubenstein,
People.com,
24 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bawl out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bawl%20out. Accessed 8 Jun. 2025.
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