Definitions
Examples
“Haranguing that cadet had been a great deal of fun, and he was debating the merit of making a surprise inspection of engineering at some point, and verbally dressing down the students for anything he found amiss.”
“The dressing down finished to his satisfaction, the King resumed his course toward Re'zonville, halting, however, to rebuke in the same emphatic style every group of runaways he overtook.”
Fictionaut: She Makes Her Mouth Small & Round & Other Stories
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘dressing down’.
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Three Sheets to the Wind
Common words or phrases of nautical origin that have taken on different or metaphorical meanings. Chained_bear and I tossed a coin over who would make the list. I won (or lost, depending on how you...
scuttlebutt, taken aback, brass monkey, boot camp, clean bill of health, three sheets to t..., the devil to pay, between the devil..., by and large, the whole nine yards, mind your ps and qs, slush fund and 116 more...
Tweets
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reesetee Yep. That oughta show him! Dec 10, 2007
chained_bear ... presumably to renew his effectiveness... Dec 10, 2007
reesetee From a nautical term. Worn sails were often "dressed down"--treated with oil or wax--to renew their effectiveness. The term eventually came to refer to the reprimand or scolding of an officer or sailor. Dec 10, 2007