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Riot Act
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Tweet n. Idiom: An English law, enacted in 1715 and repealed in 1973, providing that if 12 or more people unlawfully assemble and disturb the public peace, they must disperse after being read a specified portion of the law or be considered guilty of felony. read the riot act To warn or reprimand energetically or forcefully: The teacher read the riot act to the rowdy class. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
