teach someone a lesson
English · Thesaurus
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teach someone a lesson
verb teaches someone a lesson · teaching someone a lesson · taught someone a lesson
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To punish someone for a serious transgression they have committed so that they do not commit it again.
Similar: have someone's head, fix someone's wagon, nail someone to the wall, amerce, castigate, chasten, chastise, come down on, correct, have someone's guts for garters, have someone's hide, give it to someone
Translations
Every language
verb punish (informal)
| Español | dar una lección |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 혼내다 honnaeda |
| 日本語 | 目に物見せる me ni monomiseru, 思い知らせる omoishiraseru |
| 中文 | 給...點兒顏色看 /给...点儿颜色看 gěi...diǎnr yánsè kàn, 教训 jiàoxùn |
| Português | mostrar o que é bom pra tosse |
| Français | donner une leçon |
| Deutsch | eine Lektion erteilen |
| Italiano | dare una lezione |
| Română | învăța minte |
| Русский | проучи́ть proučítʹ, показа́ть, где ра́ки зиму́ют pokazátʹ, gde ráki zimújut, показа́ть ку́зькину мать pokazátʹ kúzʹkinu matʹ |
Talk about this word "teach someone a lesson." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/teach%20someone%20a%20lesson. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. teach someone a lesson. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/teach%20someone%20a%20lesson "teach someone a lesson." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/teach%20someone%20a%20lesson.Cite this
@misc{teach_someone_a_lesson_2026,
title = {teach someone a lesson},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/teach%20someone%20a%20lesson},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
