bring to book

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ʊk

Verb

bring to book (third-person singular simple present brings to book, present participle bringing to book, simple past and past participle brought to book)

1. (UK) To penalise someone for a punishable offence.

   The perpetrators of this atrocity must be brought to book.

   • 2011 May 4, Ian Tomlinson, “Unlawfully killed by the law”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     For the most part this happens in Britain, but there can be chilling lapses in the most serious cases, as was seen in the pall thrown over Blair Peach's killing for 30 years, and in the failure to bring the Met to book over the de Menezes case, other than through health and safety laws.

   • 2024 February 17, John Reed, “Modi is supposed to represent all of us”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 3:

     [Indira] Jaising is openly irritated that she was brought to book after being credited with landmark human rights cases and helping to draft India's domestic violence law.

Usage notes

• Very commonly used in the passive voice, as in the example.

See also

• bring to justice
• throw the book at

Further reading

• “bring to book”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “bring somebody to book” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
• “bring sb to book”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “bring someone to book” (US) / “bring someone to book” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.