I. ˈskōld noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English scald, scold, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse skald, skāld poet, skald, Icelandic skālda to make scurrilous or libelous verse; perhaps akin to Old Irish scēl story, Welsh chwedl
1.
a. : one who scolds habitually or persistently
she is an irksome brawling scold — Shakespeare
afraid of going down to posterity as the despised scold in her husband's life — E.J.Simmons
scourge of Presidents, constant dissenter and filibustering scold — L.E.Davies
has become something of a public scold against the rebellious young — L.L.King
only the squirrels, those born scolds, to reprove our indolence — New Yorker
b. : common scold
2. : a severe reprimand or rebuke : scolding
put him in an ill humor by the scold she gave him — Oliver Goldsmith
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English scalden, scolden, from scald, scold, n.
intransitive verb
1. obsolete : to quarrel noisily : use harsh or vituperative language
2. : to find fault usually noisily or rudely : utter harsh rebuke : chide sharply and severely — often used with at
could come to terms if they came truly to grips instead of scolding at each other over a barrier of misunderstanding — Edward Sapir
farmers … stood up in their wagons and scolded at the horses — Sherwood Anderson
transitive verb
1. : to force by scolding — used especially with out of
2. : to chide loudly or rudely : rebuke with severity : censure severely or angrily
scolded the … press, not only for undue emphasis on sex and crime but for failure to guess the outcome of elections — Newsweek
scolded for attaching too much importance to phonetic similarity — C.E.Bazell
scold the … investor for unwillingness to assume risks — J.F.Rippy
scold the younger generation of writers severely for their sins — C.I.Glicksberg
Synonyms: see syn
scold , upbraid , rate , berate , tongue-lash , jaw , bawl out , wig , rail , revile , and vituperate mean, in common, to reproach or censure angrily and more or less abusively. scold suggests the censure of a disobedient child by a mother, or implies irritation or ill temper
scold a child for getting home late
one officer who had scolded his subordinates for picking apples from trees alongside a road while on a march — Hanama Tasaki
a catbird … flew up on a lilac limb to scold us — John Moore
upbraid usually suggests a more or less justifiable anger
the Queen upbraided Henry for the scandal he was giving — Francis Hackett
the scene in which Lincoln upbraids his schoolfellows for maltreating a turtle — Reporter
rate and berate suggest a more prolonged angry censure and, generally, abusiveness
rated himself most severely for this feeling of vengefulness — Howard Nemerov
rated him for his want of tact — Adrian Bell
berate the agent for his ill management of the estates — Pearl Buck
heatedly berated the government's … attitude — Time
tongue-lash stresses the effect of severe unrestrained censure or berating upon the person berated
tongue-lashed them in a way that could be heard blocks off — Howard Fast
tongue-lashes him about the exploitation of the workers — Time
The terms jaw , bawl out and wig (chiefly British) emphasize the energetic or noisy harangue that usually characterizes a berating
when we went home late for chores, we got jawed some — C.T.Jackson
a tall, red-headed foreman whose chief asset was bawling out his men — H.A.Overstreet
got a sound wigging in the current issue from one of their own and from a pair of practitioners in other fields — Time
rail , usually with at or against, is a strong, more abusive, usually contemptuous berating
rail against humanity for not being abstract perfection — T.L.Peacock
physicians time and again rail at the courts for applying a test of mental responsibility so narrow and inadequate — B.N.Cardozo
had called his people lazy louts … railed against his inclination to dreams — Sherwood Anderson
revile puts emphasis upon abusiveness more strongly than any of the others, and usually implies vilification
had to hear themselves reviled as traitors by lesser Americans — Kenneth Roberts
vituperate is interchangeable with revile though suggesting even more violence of censure or attack
with his angry face and his trembling hands vituperating him — Archibald Marshall
how the sage reviled and vituperated the horrors of city life — A.C.Benson