call down

call down
   obsolete
   to announce publicly that you will not pay your wife's debts
    A relic from the days when the wife's possessions passed to her husband on marriage and all she retained was the right to pledge his credit for food and clothing for the home. The calling down was done by the town crier and from then on, in theory at least, the husband had no responsibility for paying further debts contracted by his wife. Failing the town crier, a notice might be inserted to the same effect in a local newspaper, as sometimes happened in Britain within living memory.

How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms. . 2014.

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  • call\ down — • call down • dress down v informal To scold. Jim was called down by his teacher for being late to class. Mother called Bob down for walking into the kitchen with muddy boots. Compare: call on the carpet, chew out, bawl out, read the riot act …   Словарь американских идиом

  • call down — index rebuke, reprehend Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • call down — verb 1. summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic raise the specter of unemployment he conjured wild birds in the air call down the spirits from the mountain • Syn: ↑raise, ↑conjure, ↑conjure up, ↑invoke …   Useful english dictionary

  • call down — v. 1) (D; tr.) ( to summon ) to call down on, upon (to call down the wrath of God on smb. s head) 2) (D; intr.) ( to shout ) to call down to (he called down to us from the roof) * * * [ kɔːl daʊn] upon (to call down the wrath of God on smb. s… …   Combinatory dictionary

  • call down — phrasal verb [transitive] Word forms call down : present tense I/you/we/they call down he/she/it calls down present participle calling down past tense called down past participle called down literary call something down on someone to pray for… …   English dictionary

  • call down — transitive verb Date: 1634 1. to cause or entreat to descend < call down a blessing > 2. reprimand < called me down for being late > …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • call down to — phr verb Call down to is used with these nouns as the object: ↑reception …   Collocations dictionary

  • call down — also[dress down] {v.}, {informal} To scold. * /Jim was called down by his teacher for being late to class./ * /Mother called Bob down for walking into the kitchen with muddy boots./ Compare: CALL ON THE CARPET, CHEW OUT, BAWL OUT, READ THE RIOT… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • call down — also[dress down] {v.}, {informal} To scold. * /Jim was called down by his teacher for being late to class./ * /Mother called Bob down for walking into the kitchen with muddy boots./ Compare: CALL ON THE CARPET, CHEW OUT, BAWL OUT, READ THE RIOT… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • call down — I (Roget s IV) v. 1. [To entreat] Syn. invoke, supplicate, request; see appeal 1 , beg 1 , summon . 2. [*To scold sharply] Syn. rebuke, chide, admonish; see censure , scold . II (Roget s Thesaurus II) verb To criticize for a fault or an offense:… …   English dictionary for students

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