hell to pay


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hell to pay

Very negative or severe consequences. There will be hell to pay if you come home after curfew yet again.
See also: hell, pay

hell to pay

Great trouble, as in If we're wrong there'll be hell to pay. [c. 1800]
See also: hell, pay

there'll be hell to pay

You can say that there'll be hell to pay to warn someone that someone will be very angry if a particular thing happens or if it does not happen. If I forget Nicole's book, there'll be hell to pay. You know what she's like. Next thing she'll find out about that night in Rugby and there'll be hell to pay. Note: In British English, you can also say that there'll be merry hell to pay. `Drop that!' she snarled at Kenny. `If the girls see it, there'll be merry hell to pay!'
See also: hell, pay

ˈhell/the ˈdevil to pay

(informal) a lot of trouble: There’ll be hell to pay when your father sees that broken window.
See also: devil, hell, pay

hell to pay

Great trouble: If we're wrong, there'll be hell to pay.
See also: hell, pay

hell to pay, there'll be

The consequences will be terrible; there’ll be a heavy penalty. Originating about 1800, this term once meant discord or severe trouble. The OED quotes a letter by Lord Paget (1807): “There has been hell to pay between the Dukes of York and Cumberland.”
See also: hell
References in periodicals archive ?
And when Jackie dares to visit a strip bar with the trainers or doesn't call Mimi when she's supposed to, there's hell to pay.
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Later, back at the hotel, he gets close to tormentor Tracy and even though nothing happens, there's hell to pay when Karen sees the whole debacle played out on the wide-screen TV at the Rovers.
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There will be hell to pay back at the regiment at Hereford if they find out.
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Sir bobby robson last night gave Craig Bellamy the thumbs up to link-up with Wales for the forthcoming friendly with Scotland - then warned Mark Hughes: 'If he comes back injured there'll be hell to pay.
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If the waiter had not offered me a complimentary orange squash to soothe my baking gums, there would have been hell to pay.
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Giggs adds: "There is hell to pay if Roy isn't on the winning side and that goes for everything he's involved in.
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If Jay and the other country-bashers adopted such an attitude toward an ethnic group like Jews or Mexicans, there would be hell to pay.
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If Democrats take the path of least resistance and confirm rightwing corporate lawyers and platitude-spouting bureaucrats like Clarence Thomas promoting the Federalist Society agenda, there will be hell to pay for the Bill of Rights and public welfare generally.
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If I had, there would have been hell to pay from my parents.
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When she threatens to crush him like a bug, blood spatters the walls and it's clear there'll be hell to pay.
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However, when a girl from the Home Counties with great hair and a cut-glass accent unleashes the F-word, there is hell to pay.
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The event on Saturday will feature a free gig starring Manchester hair metal gods Hell to Pay, Huddersfield's The EBGB''s and new Huddersfield stoner rockers, Santis.
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But one thing is for sure - he'll have hell to pay when he gets home," Sparling added.
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