catch it

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

1. (idiomatic) To be severely reprimanded, punished, or beaten.
   • 1860, George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss

     "You'll catch it, you know," said Tom, nodding his head in an admonitory manner, and hesitating a little as he took the scissors.

   • a. 1887, George Bernard Shaw, An Unsocial Socialist

     If they beat us, we shall catch it, and serve us right.

   • 2003, Sid Fleischman, The Whipping Boy, page 39:

     I'll catch it for your mischief in running away. And I'll catch it again when the tutor claps eyes on the handwriting.

2. Used other than with a figurative or idiomatic meaning: see catch,‎ it.

• cop it
• catch hell
• get it