crackdown
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of crackdown
1930–35, noun use of verb phrase crack down
Explanation
When an authority uses strict or harsh measures to curb certain behavior, it's a crackdown. A crackdown can be seen as positive or negative, depending on what kind of activity is being limited. The violent crackdown of a repressive government on its citizens is anti-democratic, but your principal's crackdown on bullying is most likely good for everyone in your school. Crackdown, with its sense of "severe discipline," may have originated from the phrase crack the whip, although language experts aren't certain.
Vocabulary lists containing crackdown
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The 68-year-old had been jailed in China several times for his activism, such as taking part in events to commemorate the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
From BBC • May 27, 2026
The company has faced outrage in South Korea for promoting a line of coffee cups with a campaign that evoked a deadly crackdown on a 1980 pro-democracy uprising.
From Barron's • May 26, 2026
India voiced concern on Sunday over a US visa crackdown, striking a rare critical note even as it expressed broad alignment with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on other fractious issues.
From Barron's • May 24, 2026
Sierra Leone has become the latest African country to receive migrants deported from the United States amid Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration.
From BBC • May 20, 2026
In the few minutes of privacy we’ve had, with me walking him back to town, I gather that the rumblings of an uprising in 12 have been subdued by Thread’s crackdown.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
