British and Irish slang for a severe verbal dressing-down, typically from a superior to a subordinate.
British and Irish slang for a severe verbal dressing-down, typically from a superior to a subordinate. Getting a bollocking is considerably worse than a simple reprimand. Widely used in workplaces, the military, and sports contexts; while vulgar in origin, it has a workaday acceptability in informal British speech.
The manager gave him a proper bollocking in front of the entire team after the mistake cost them the match.
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UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
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(transitive, UK, Ireland, vulgar) To reprimand severely and grossly.
A state of being severely told off, punished, or in deep trouble — used in British slang contexts to describe the period after getting a serious dressing-down from a boss, parent, or authority figure. Implies total shutdown, sheepishness, and lying low after a public or private scolding.
(UK) A scolding, a bollocking.
(British, Irish, Commonwealth, vulgar, slang) Exhausted.
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(UK, Ireland, vulgar) A severe reprimand.
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