hell
In some religions, a place where bad people go after they die to suffer forever.
In some religions, the place where the souls of wicked people are believed to suffer after death.
A very bad and painful time or situation.
A situation or experience that is extremely unpleasant, difficult, or full of suffering.
Said when you are surprised, angry, or want to make your words stronger.
Used to express surprise, anger, disbelief, or to add emphasis to a statement.
A person or thing that makes life very hard or unpleasant.
A person or thing that causes great difficulty, annoyance, or damage.
- Base: hell
- Plural: hell, hells
give [someone] hell
1treat harshly or criticize strongly
To punish, criticize, or make things very difficult for someone.
- The teacher gave us hell for being late.
- My mom gave me hell when she saw my grades.
go through hell
1experience great suffering
To have a very hard and painful time.
- She went through hell after her house burned down.
- They went through hell during the war.
like hell
1with great intensity or emphasis
Used to say something is done with great force, speed, or effort; also used to strongly deny something.
- He ran like hell to catch the bus.
- "You’ll help me?" "Like hell I will!"
what the hell
1expression of surprise or confusion
Used when you are surprised, angry, or do not understand something.
- What the hell is going on here?
- What the hell did you do that for?
raise hell
1Cause loud trouble or protest strongly
To make a lot of noise and trouble because you are angry or excited.
- The crowd raised hell after the referee's bad call.
- He'll raise hell if they try to fire him.
raise hell
2cause trouble or disturbance
To make trouble, protest loudly, or create a noisy disturbance.
- The fans raised hell after their team lost.
- He’ll raise hell if he finds out what happened.