Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A shed in which firewood is stored.
  • intransitive verb To practice on a musical instrument.
  • idiom (take (someone) to the woodshed) To reprimand or punish (someone).
  • idiom (trip to the woodshed) An instance of being reprimanded or punished.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A shed for keeping wood for fuel.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An enclosed, roofed structure, often an outbuilding, used primarily to store firewood.
  • noun informal A place where punishments or reprimands are administered.
  • verb slang, music To practice or rehearse using a musical instrument.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a shed for storing firewood or garden tools

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word woodshed.

Examples

  • Since last year, Tyondai Braxton has been deep in what jazz musicians would call the woodshed.

    Whistle While He Works Steve Dollar 2011

  • The woodshed is the leadership of both parties bringing members in who either are not following the party line or feel that they won ` t follow the party line, and putting the pressure on them to get them to do something to accomplish a leadership goal.

    Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders Into Insiders 2003

  • Stormy Day at Sugar Creek_, and behind the woodshed was the great big schoolyard where we played baseball and blindman's buff and other games in the fall and spring, and where we play fox-and-goose in the winter.

    Shenanigans at Sugar Creek Paul Hutchens

  • The end of the woodshed was the limit of their vision down the long yard.

    The Corner House Girls at School Grace Brooks Hill 1917

  • But there are conservatives who believe the woodshed is the last place they should be.

    unknown title 2009

  • This is not to say that the General doesn't deserve to be taken, as Ronald Reagan once did to budget director David Stockman, to the White House "woodshed" for his media indiscretions.

    The McChrystal Mess 2010

  • a woodshed is a hideously unromantic sort of place.

    Prudence of the Parsonage Ethel Hueston

  • I hope she isn't taken to the proverbial "woodshed" for her "journalistic integrity" ... an almost forgotten term.

    Denver Post: News: Breaking: Local 2009

  • I hope she isn't taken to the proverbial "woodshed" for her "journalistic integrity" ... an almost forgotten term.

    Denver Post: News: Breaking: Local 2009

  • I hope she isn't taken to the proverbial "woodshed" for her "journalistic integrity" ... an almost forgotten term.

    Denver Post: News: Breaking: Local 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.