read someone the riot act verb2 •(figurative) To scold or berate somebody; to reprimand.She really read him the riot act about his smoking habit. •(UK, no longer used) To give a formal warning for a riotous assembly to disperse, usually through reading a section of the Riot Act.The Riot Act was read with the rapidity with which grace is sometimes said at the head of a public table—a ceremony of which none but the performer and his immediate friends are conscious. — 1845 formsreading someone the riot act · reading the Riot Act · reading the riot act · reads someone the riot act · reads the Riot Act · reads the riot act
