lay into

English

Verb

lay into (third-person singular simple present lays into, present participle laying into, simple past and past participle laid into)

1. (colloquial) To beat up or launch an attack against; to strike forcefully.
   • 1936, Norman Lindsay, The Flyaway Highway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 16:

     A very spirited affair it looked with its red body and yellow wheels, bouncing about on its high C springs [...] with its four horses going full stretch and two postilions in knee-cords and top-boots laying into the horses in a lather of dust and excitement.

   • 2021 March 10, Drachinifel, 11:26 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 1 (IJN 3(?) : 2 USN)‎^[1], archived from the original on 17 October 2022:

     The U.S. ships did the nautical version of someone stuck in a pub when the chairs and glass starts flying, who just looked around, shrugged their shoulders, and immediately lays into the nearest combatant.

2. (colloquial) To berate; to scold.

Translations

To beat up.

• Dutch: te lijf gaan, aanvallen (nl)
• French: assommer (fr)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lange ut mot

To berate; to scold.

• Dutch: uitkafferen (nl), berispen (nl)
• French: engueuler (fr), réprimander (fr)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lange ut mot

Further reading

• “lay into v.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present