give someone grief

give (one) grief

To criticize or tease someone. Once my brother hears that I hit a parked car, he'll give me grief about it for years to come. I'm pretty sure that Kevin likes Katie, so I keep giving him grief about it.See also: give, grief

give someone grief

be a nuisance to someone. informal 1998 Times One of the passengers who'd been giving the cabin crew grief started yelling, ‘We've had a near miss.’ See also: give, grief, someone