crack down

verb

repress or suppress (something regarded as undesirable)

- The police clamped down on illegal drugs

• Syn: ↑clamp down

• Derivationally related forms: ↑crackdown, ↑clampdown (for: ↑clamp down)

• Hypernyms:

↑restrict, ↑restrain, ↑trammel, ↑limit, ↑bound, ↑confine, ↑throttle

• Verb Frames:

- Somebody ——s something

* * *

intransitive verb

: to take punitive action : enforce strict conformance with or increase the severity of regulations or restrictions — usually used with on

the government cracked down on violators

* * *

ˌcrack ˈdown [intransitive] [present tense I/you/we/they crack down he/she/it cracks down present participle cracking down past tense cracked down past participle cracked down] phrasal verb

to start dealing with someone or something much more strictly

crack down on:

The school is cracking down on smoking.

Thesaurus: to try to deal with a problem or difficulty_synonym

Main entry: crack

* * *

crack down [phrasal verb]

: to start to be strict about punishing people for doing something that is illegal or not allowed : to enforce a law or rule more strictly

People have been violating this law for years, and now the government is finally starting to crack down.

— often + on

Authorities are cracking down on companies that pollute.

Look at other dictionaries:

crack down on — crack down (on (someone/something)) to take strong action to stop something bad from continuing. The university is taking steps to crack down on underage drinking on campus. Countries that used to ignore terrorist groups in their midst are… … New idioms dictionary
crack down — (on (someone/something)) to take strong action to stop something bad from continuing. The university is taking steps to crack down on underage drinking on campus. Countries that used to ignore terrorist groups in their midst are starting to crack … New idioms dictionary
crack down on — ► crack down on informal take severe measures against. Main Entry: ↑crack … English terms dictionary
crack|down — «KRAK DOWN», noun. Informal. the act of taking, or bringing to bear, stern measures or swift disciplinary action … Useful english dictionary
Crack Down — For a definition of the verb crack down , see the Wiktionary entry crack down. For the Xbox 360 game, see Crackdown. Crack Down Developer(s) Sega … Wikipedia
Crack Down — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Crackdown (homonymie). Crack Down Éditeur Sega, U.S. Gold Développeur Sega Date de sortie … Wikipédia en Français
crack down on — SUPPRESS, prevent, stop, put a stop to, put an end to, stamp out, eliminate, eradicate; clamp down on, get tough on, come down hard on, limit, restrain, restrict, check, keep in check, control, keep under control. → crack * * * crack down on To… … Useful english dictionary
crack down — phrasal verb [intransitive] Word forms crack down : present tense I/you/we/they crack down he/she/it cracks down present participle cracking down past tense cracked down past participle cracked down to start dealing with someone or something much … English dictionary
crack down — v. (D; intr.) to crack down on (to crack down on drug dealers) * * * [ kræk daʊn] (D; intr.) to crack down on (to crack down on drug dealers) … Combinatory dictionary
crack down — PHRASAL VERB If people in authority crack down on a group of people, they become stricter in making the group obey rules or laws. → See also crackdown [V P on n] The government has cracked down hard on those campaigning for greater democracy...… … English dictionary

Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

crack down

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Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Useful english dictionary

crack down

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