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Definition

Very unpleasant consequences; a great deal of trouble.

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In Context

  • ""When I'm hungry, there's hell to pay if I'm not fed quick.""
  • ""I told him I had sent for you an' when you got heah these slippery, mysterious thieves, whoever they were, would shore have hell to pay.""
  • "Congressman Bart Stupak of Michigan . . . vows that "there will be hell to pay" if his language gets stripped out of, or weakened in, the final legislation."
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Also Said As

  • the devil to pay
  • the devil to pay, and no pitch hot
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