behell

English

Etymology

From be- +‎ hell.

Verb

behell (third-person singular simple present behells, present participle behelling, simple past and past participle behelled)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To torture as with pains of hell; give hell (to).

   Did behell and rack him ― Hewyt.

   • 1936, Frederick Walker Mott, Archives of neurology and psychiatry:

     Thus a mechanic who feels himself electrically influenced speaks of "brain-kilowatt-hours", or a resistive patient talks of "behelling" injections.

   • 2006, Philangi Dasa, Swedenborg the Buddhist:

     I have seen them behell a saint for ignorantly drinking an alcoholic drink. Beshrew the sanctimonious riffraff!