Liliputin-3752

Napoleon threatened to throw the book at me if I didn't stop write new ones ... "
Marquis de Sade

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throw the book at (one) (redirected from throwing the book at you)
throw the book at (one)
1. To apply all possible criminal charges to a lawbreaker; to impose the maximum possible punishment or jail sentence against a convicted criminal.
After his third offense, the judge threw the book at the criminal, making parole all but an impossibility.
2. To punish or reprimand someone as severely as possible.
The disciplinary board threw the book at him for the derogatory tirade he leveled at his employees.
See also: book, throw
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
throw the book at someone
Fig. to charge or convict someone with as many crimes as is possible. I made the police officer angry, so he took me to the station and threw the book at me. The judge threatened to throw the book at me if I didn't stop insulting the police officer.
See also: book, throw
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
throw the book at
Punish or reprimand severely, as in I just knew the professor would throw the book at me for being late with my paper. This expression originally meant "sentence a convicted person to the maximum penalties allowed," the book being the roster of applicable laws. Its figurative use dates from the mid-1900s.
See also: book, throw
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
throw the book at someone
If a person in authority throws the book at someone who has committed an offence, they punish them severely. The prosecutor is urging the judge to throw the book at Green. `If this is found to be true then we will throw the book at the clubs involved,' Barry Smart, the chairman of the league, said yesterday. Note: This expression refers to a book in which laws are written down.
See also: book, someone, throw
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
throw the book at charge or punish someone as severely as possible or permitted. informal
See also: book, throw
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
throw the ;book at somebody (informal) punish or criticize somebody for as many things as possible: The police stopped me for speeding and threw the book at me for everything — faulty lights, dangerous tyres, no insurance...
See also: book, somebody, throw
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
throw the book at someone
tv. [for the police] to charge someone with everything possible; [for a judge] to find someone guilty of everything possible. (As if one were being charged with violating all the laws in a law book.) The judge wanted to throw the book at Joel Cairo, but the prosecutor convinced him to go easy in hope that Cairo would lead them to Mr. Gutman.
See also: book, someone, throw
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
throw the book at
1. To make all possible charges against (a lawbreaker, for example).
2. To reprimand or punish severely.
See also: book, throw
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
throw the book at, to
To scold or punish severely. The term comes from a legal one meaning to sentence an offender to the maximum penalties allowed, the book meaning the entire roster of laws and penalties applicable to the particular crime. The legal metaphor was in use in the early twentieth century, and by the middle of the century it was broadened to include reproaches and nonlegal remedies. Joseph Heller’s wonderful satire on military mores, Catch-
22 (1961), stated, “He was formally charged with breaking ranks while in formation, felonious assault, indiscriminate behavior, mopery, high treason, provoking . . . In short, they threw the book at him.”
See also: book, throw, to
The Dictionary of Clich;s by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Chris