heads will roll

heads will roll idiom
Someone will be severely punished, as in If no one meets the chairman's plane, heads will roll. This hyperbolic expression alludes to the punishment of being beheaded.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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