From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdressing-downˌdressing-ˈdown noun [singular] TELL somebody OFFan occasion when you talk angrily to someone because they have done something wronggive somebody/get a dressing-down The tobacco companies got a severe dressing-down.
Examples from the Corpus
dressing-down• Pippin was given a public dressing-down, and ordered to precede his father to Francia.• The dressing-down comes as a 60 percent rise in complaints against banks was revealed yesterday.give somebody/get a dressing-down• Pippin was given a public dressing-down, and ordered to precede his father to Francia. 