keelhaul

verb (used with object)

1. Nautical. to haul (an offender) under the bottom of a ship and up on the other side as a punishment.
2. to rebuke severely.

verb (tr)

1. to drag (a person) by a rope from one side of a vessel to the other through the water under the keel
2. to rebuke harshly

v.

1660s (the experience itself is described from 1620s), from Dutch kielhalen, literally “to haul under the keel,” an old punishment. See keel (n.) + haul (v.). Related: Keelhauled. German kielholen, Danish kjølhale, Swedish kölhala also are from Dutch.