Dic: take someone to task

• The country's intellectuals are also being taken to task for their failure to speak out against the regime.
• He was taken to task for not reporting the problem earlier.
• She took her assistant to task for/over her carelessness.

△If you take someone to task, you criticize them or tell them off because of something bad or wrong that they have done. (= rebuke)

△to criticize or reprove

△take someone to task (for): to strongly criticize somebody for something they have done

△to criticize or speak angrily to someone for something that they have done wrong.

■ take (call, bring, hold) to task: To reprimand or censure / to severely criticize someone

... COBUILD, COLLINS, LDOCE, CALD, The American Heritage/MacMillan