SCOLD


Meaning of SCOLD in English

scold /skəʊld $ skoʊld/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]

[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Origin: Probably from a Scandinavian language ]

to angrily criticize someone, especially a child, about something they have done SYN tell off :

Do not scold the puppy, but simply and firmly say ‘no.’

scold somebody for (doing) something

Her father scolded her for upsetting her mother.

—scolding noun [uncountable and countable] :

I got a scolding from my teacher.

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REGISTER

In everyday English, people usually say tell someone off rather than scold someone:

She told us off for making a mess.

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THESAURUS

▪ reprimand formal to tell someone that they have done something wrong or illegal and are being punished for it – used especially in official contexts:

The police officers were officially reprimanded for their behaviour.

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The Swiss authorities severely reprimanded the banks for accepting $660million from the former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha.

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Debra remembered as a very young child being reprimanded by her father.

▪ scold formal if a parent, teacher, or other adult scolds a child, they talk to them angrily because they have done something wrong. Scold sounds rather formal and old-fashioned. In everyday English people usually say tell somebody off :

I dreaded the thought of going home and being scolded by my father.

▪ tell somebody off to talk angrily to someone because they have done something wrong. Tell somebody off is more common in British English than American English:

Dad told me off for getting home late.

▪ give somebody a talking-to informal to talk angrily to a child because they have done something wrong:

The boy was giving a good talking-to and sent home.

▪ lecture to talk angrily to someone for a long time about something they have done wrong, especially in a way that they think is not necessary or fair:

Stop lecturing me, will you!

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He began to lecture her about her duties as a citizen.

▪ rebuke formal to tell someone that they should not have done something:

She rebuked him for being late.

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Sheerman rebuked his colleague for suggesting that he was too stupid to understand what he was saying.

▪ reproach formal to talk to someone in a way that shows you are disappointed at what they have done. Reproach sounds much gentler than criticizing someone or reprimanding them:

He felt he had to reproach his friend for his excessive drinking.

▪ berate formal to publicly criticize someone for a long time, in a way that shows you strongly disapprove of what they have done:

She berated the paper for its 'misleading front-page story.'

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Kennedy berated the Eisenhower administration and its vice president Richard Nixon, during the 1960 campaign.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.