verb
reprimand
-
She told the misbehaving student off
• Syn: ↑brush down
• Hypernyms:
↑call on the carpet, ↑take to task, ↑rebuke, ↑rag, ↑trounce, ↑reproof, ↑lecture, ↑reprimand, ↑jaw, ↑dress down, ↑call down, ↑scold, ↑chide, ↑berate, ↑bawl out, ↑remonstrate, ↑chew out, ↑chew up, ↑have words, ↑lambaste, ↑lambast
• Verb Frames:
-
Somebody ——s somebody
* * *
transitive verbtold off a detail and put them to opening a trench — J.F.Dobie
trains told off for the use of British soldiers — Robert Keable
told off to make a speech — A.P.Herbert
his growing disgust boils over, he tells off the boss — Hobe Morrison
in a mood to be told off, and they embraced most warmly the writers who scolded hardest — J.H.Jackson
* * *
tell off see under ↑tell1
• • •
Main Entry: ↑off
————————
tell off
1. To reprimand (informal)
2. To count off and detach on some special duty
• • •
Main Entry: ↑tell
* * *
ˌtell ˈoff [transitive] [present tense I/you/we/they tell off he/she/it tells off present participle telling off past tense told off past participle told off] informal phrasal verb
to criticize someone angrily for doing something wrong
tell off for doing something:
The teacher told me off for talking again today.
be/get told off: 
I’m going to get told off for being late.
Thesaurus: to criticize stronglysynonym to say something, or to speak to someone in an angry waysynonym
Main entry: tell
* * *
tell off [phrasal verb]
1 US : to yell at or insult (someone who did or said something that made you angry)
— often + for
She told him off for spreading rumors about her.
— often + for
The teacher told the girl off for talking during class.
• • •
Main Entry: ↑tell
Useful english dictionary. 2012.