What does what for mean?

what for means "a strong reprimand".

Is what for a common word?

what for is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

what for — meaning, pronunciation and definition

noun

1 senseA person, place, thing, quality or idea.

1.
a strong reprimand
Broaderrebuke

Questions about what for

What does what for mean?: what for means "a strong reprimand".
Is what for a common word?: what for is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for what for come from Princeton University’s WordNet. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.

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what for

noun

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