slap down

verb

1. informal.
   tr, adverb to rebuke sharply, as for impertinence

Idioms and Phrases

Restrain or correct emphatically, as in They thought he was getting far too arrogant and needed to be slapped down . This idiom, which literally means “inflict a physical blow,” began to be used figuratively in the first half of the 1900s.

Example Sentences

To fix the problem, it will never be enough to simply slap down the guy caught cheating, no matter how despicable he might be.

From The Daily Beast

When the salt starts to pop (from the water trapped in the salt crystal), slap down your burger, dimple side up.

From The Daily Beast

Obama would have never dared send them out to publicly slap down McChrystal, as both Gates and Jones have done.

From The Daily Beast

We walked slap down to the hotel—then it was near the bank—and called for drinks.

From Project Gutenberg

An' then you slap down a card they've all overlooked an' larf in the other chap's face?

From Project Gutenberg

I'm in government service; and if them picket-halters was gone, slap down goes a dollar apiece.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• berate
• castigate
• censure
• flog
• lash
• punish
• upbraid