as in to scold
to criticize (someone) severely or angrily especially for personal failings
there's no need to keelhaul him—it was an honest mistake, and a small one at that
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Recent Examples of keelhaul
And other than a recession, which generally keelhauls buyback plans, don’t expect companies to ease off their repurchases.
—
Larry Light, Fortune, 20 Aug. 2019
The threat posed by the AT&T-Time Warner merger is all the greater today because of the Trump administration’s initiative in keelhauling network neutrality at the Federal Communications Commission.
—Michael Hiltzik, latimes.com, 12 June 2018
To hell with a class action suit, these people should have been keelhauled under the Staten Island Ferry for a year.
—Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 25 Oct. 2017
Larry Light, Fortune, 20 Aug. 2019
The threat posed by the AT&T-Time Warner merger is all the greater today because of the Trump administration’s initiative in keelhauling network neutrality at the Federal Communications Commission.
—Michael Hiltzik, latimes.com, 12 June 2018
To hell with a class action suit, these people should have been keelhauled under the Staten Island Ferry for a year.
—Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 25 Oct. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for keelhaul
Verb
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Rogers scolded Musk on Tuesday morning for his recent social media posts about the trial and threatened a gag order before the jury arrived in the courtroom.—
Samantha Delouya,
CNN Money,
28 Apr. 2026
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Or tie scolds to the ducking stool again.—
Annie Lowrey,
The Atlantic,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Israeli leaders later disavowed the incident and said he would be reprimanded.—
Sam Metz,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2026
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Kudrow, who starred as the free-spirited Phoebe Buffay, said the writers reprimanded the cast for forgetting lines and spent their off-hours fantasizing about her female co-stars.—
Jack Dunn,
Variety,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
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For years, states such as New York and California have been run by politicians who seem to believe prosperity is permanent — an endless resource to be taxed a little more, regulated a little harder and lectured a little longer.—
Larry Clifton,
Sun Sentinel,
28 Apr. 2026
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Steve Kerr's new New Yorker interview sounds a lot less like a man eager to lecture Americans and a lot more like a man trying to clean up a mess he's spent years making.—
Dan Zaksheske OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The Mets have received little from the back end of their rotation — ironically, Peterson is one of the pitchers to blame here, alongside Kodai Senga — but Scott could provide a higher floor and ceiling in one of those spots.—
Tim Britton,
New York Times,
4 May 2026
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In 1998, as many as 1,000 birds – mostly pelicans, wading birds and raptors – died around Lake Apopka, a tragedy blamed on poisoning from the pesticides used on the muck farms.—
Stephen Hudak,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Keelhaul.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/keelhaul. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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