Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

read the riot act

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.05 in modern English

Syllables: read- the ri-ot act
IPA

20

Scrabble Score

14

Letters

3

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

Alternative form of read someone the riot act

verb

Alternative form of read someone the riot act

Example Sentences

"To do things “railroad fashion” is now the by-word; and it is worth the while to be warned so often and so sincerely by any power to get off its track. There is no stopping to read the riot act, no firing over the heads of the mob, in this case."
"To take infinite precautions, they complained, against the juvenile perusal of such eminently innocuous literature was like reading the Riot Act on an uninhabited island."
"I'd read the Riot Act. They'll be lootin' this house next!"

Inflected Forms

reads the riot act (present, singular) reading the riot act (participle, present)

Questions

What does read the riot act mean?: Alternative form of read someone the riot act

How to pronounce read the riot act

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