rub salt in the wound

1.
Globalinformalidiomatic
- To exacerbate an existing hurt, humiliation, or bad situation by adding further insult, reminder, or harm.
- To intensify emotional distress by making the original injury or embarrassment more acute.
2.
Globalneutral
- To increase the pain of a physical wound by applying salt to it (literal sense).

Examples:

No examples available.