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 there will be hell to pay if one of our big names goes down before the Ashes," he concluded.
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If not, there will be hell to pay in more ways than one" Sir Bernard Ingham on the NHS controversy "Politicians, the media - we now live in a world of soundbites.
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However, at the same time we are never happier than when a big new signing is paraded on the pitch and there can be hell to pay if one of our established stars is sold.
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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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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. Stephen Gaskin Summertown, Tennessee
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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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'He keeps on saying there would be hell to pay if any violation of human rights is done by any police officer,' he said.
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