crackdown

[krak-doun]

noun

1. the severe or stern enforcement of regulations, laws, etc., as to root out abuses or correct a problem.

Word History and Origins

Origin of crackdown¹

1930–35, noun use of verb phrase crack down

Example Sentences

The opposition believes hundreds of people died in the crackdown.

Read more on BBC

Top Israeli officials, including the Prime Minister, pledged a crackdown after an arson at a West Bank mosque last week.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Fan was one of China's highest paid actresses and starred in the X-Men and Iron Man franchises before she was targeted in a crackdown on tax evasion in 2018.

Read more on Barron's

As the US continues its crackdown on illegal immigration, it has made unprecedented changes to its policy towards Iranian asylum seekers.

Read more on BBC

For now, though, the crackdown is reverberating through the global oil trade.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• clampdown 
• repression 
• strike 
• suppression