scold

«scold» in Mova's school dictionary: to speak to them angrily because they have done something… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (scold, scolds, scolded, scolding); noun scolding (a scolding)

meaning for a pupil

1) To scold someone is to speak to them angrily because they have done something wrong. tree →

2) A scolding is an angry telling-off. tree →

3) (old-fashioned) A scold was a person, especially a woman, who often nagged or complained. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life and stories, parents and teachers scold children for being naughty; it tells the reader someone is in trouble but not punished harshly. In the UK people more often say "tell off", in Australia "growl at". Phrases: "scold someone for", "get a scolding", "a good scolding".

examples

• Mum scolded me for leaving my muddy boots on the carpet. tree →
• The teacher scolded the boys for running in the corridor. tree →
• I got a scolding for being late home. tree →
• The farmer scolded the dog for chasing the sheep. tree →
• "You should know better!" scolded Grandma. tree →
• (Australia, informal) Dad growled at us — he really scolded us for fighting. tree →
• The woman scolded the old man. tree →

note

Regular verb: scolded. Pattern: "scold someone for doing something". Everyday synonyms: tell off (UK), give out to (Ireland, informal: "Mam gave out to me"), chew out (US, informal). It is milder than punish: scolding is only words.

In the corpora

• When he opens his eyes, his own river looks grey and chilly, and his loyal heart scolds him for being a traitor.
• The priest did not scold him for coming back.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «scold» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.