| 释义 |
idiomread (sb) the riot actto give someone a strong warning that they must stop causing trouble or doing something that you do not like:If production figures don't improve we may have to call a meeting and read the riot act.Ask you doctor to read your husband the riot act when he comes in for his next blood pressure check.NoteIn nineteenth-century Britain, reading the Riot Act to a crowd of people was an official warning that they were causing trouble and must separate and leave. If they did not do this, they were breaking the law.
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