catch hell

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catch hell (third-person singular simple present catches hell, present participle catching hell, simple past and past participle caught hell)

1. (slang, idiomatic) To be severely reprimanded, punished, or beaten.
   • 2018 July 10, Jesse Hassenger, “Improbably but amusingly, Hotel Transylvania 3 notches a series best”, in The Onion AV Club‎^[1], archived from the original on 9 July 2018:

     It’s not exactly a Pixar-level examination of complicated family dynamics, and the movie still has plenty of knuckled-headed, Sandler-style boys-will-be-dumbasses shtick: Children everywhere will surely thrill to the sub-subplot about Frank catching hell about his gambling problem from his wife, Eunice (Fran Drescher)!

2. (slang, idiomatic, uncommon) To experience troubling or difficult times.
   • 1977, Natalie Cole (lyrics and music), “I'm Catching Hell”, in Unpredictable:

     I'm catching hell living here alone / Hmm, I never realized, oh, Lord / That you mean so much to me / I'm catching hell living here alone

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