throw the book at
idiom
informal
: to punish (someone) as severely as possible
The judge threatened to throw the book at him if he committed another offense.
Examples of throw the book at in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The only way forward is to throw the book at Manchester City, to dock dozens of points from the team, and relegate it to England’s second division, as happened to Italian side Juventus during the Calciopoli scandal.
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Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 8 Feb. 2023
And if the New York Times’s sources are correct, the Justice Department will throw the book at him with a litany of charges ranging from conspiracy to securities fraud to money laundering to wire fraud.
—Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 13 Dec. 2022
But before that can happen, a judge needs to throw the book at Gov. Whitmer.
—Jimmy E. Greene, WSJ, 21 July 2022
Becker’s 10 articles of impeachment, which haven’t been formally introduced yet, attempt to throw the book at DeWine, listing just about every grievance conservatives have lodged about the governor’s coronavirus response.
—Jeremy Pelzer, cleveland, 24 Aug. 2020
Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 8 Feb. 2023
And if the New York Times’s sources are correct, the Justice Department will throw the book at him with a litany of charges ranging from conspiracy to securities fraud to money laundering to wire fraud.
—Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 13 Dec. 2022
But before that can happen, a judge needs to throw the book at Gov. Whitmer.
—Jimmy E. Greene, WSJ, 21 July 2022
Becker’s 10 articles of impeachment, which haven’t been formally introduced yet, attempt to throw the book at DeWine, listing just about every grievance conservatives have lodged about the governor’s coronavirus response.
—Jeremy Pelzer, cleveland, 24 Aug. 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'throw the book at.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near throw the book at
Cite this Entry
“Throw the book at.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/throw%20the%20book%20at. Accessed 29 Apr. 2024.
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