verb ·2 syllables ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To scold, reprimand or criticize harshly.

   "The sergeant lambasted the new recruits daily."

2. 2
   censure severely or angrily wordnet
3. 3
   To give a thrashing to; to beat severely. dated
4. 4
   beat with a cane wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

bawl outbeatberateberatecanechew out

Example

More examples

"The sergeant lambasted the new recruits daily."

Etymology

First attested in 1637. Probably lam (“beat”) + baste (“beat”)

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.