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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

fix someone's wagon en · VERB

Etymology

From an archaic sense of fix, "to fix in place, render unable to move", which survives in the word affix.

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) To cause injury, distress, or inconvenience to someone, especially as punishment or as a comeuppance.
    • When Randy Gumpert went in to hurl the sixth the Yankees immediately fixed his wagon. Successive errors by Steve Souchock and Stirnweiss, the latter making his first misplay of the year at third base, put two runners on and both counted. 1946 July 24, John Dreibinger, “Yank Errors Help Browns Win, 8 to 2”, in New York Times, page 31:
    • According to Mr Breeden, Lord Black said that the libel laws in the UK and Canada would permit him to sue and indicated he would go after the houses of board members. […] "He was going to fix their wagon good," said Mr Breeden. 2004 February 19, Simon English, “Black 'threatened to sue every one of his directors'”, in telegraph.co.uk, retrieved 21 Oct 2008:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
fixed someone's wagon Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
fixed someone's wagon Tense=Past lexicographic
fixing someone's wagon Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
fixes someone's wagon Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic

Synonyms

gruel · give someone what for · correct · come down on · malavogue · teach someone a lesson · have someone's head · take someone down a peg · give someone what for · give what for · punish · have someone's hide · have someone's guts for garters · chastise · penance · chasten · penalize · tar out · teach someone a lesson · nail someone to the wall · give it to someone · tan someone's hide · amerce · fix someone's wagon · castigate

Translations (3)

cmn 給...點兒顏色看 /给...点儿颜色看 (punish) · fi antaa opetus (punish) · pl zadać bobu (punish)