come down on
Idioms-
Also, come down upon.
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Also, come down hard on . Punish or reprimand severely. For example, My professor is going to come down on me for not completing the paper , or The judge promised to come down hard on drug dealers . [Early 1600s] Also see like a ton of bricks .
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Oppose, voice one's opposition, as in The President came down on the new budget cuts, promising to veto them . [Late 1800s]
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come down on the side of . Make a choice or decision in favor of, plump for, as in I'll come down on the side of those who are needy .
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.
Pressed by parents to act, school superintendents have come down on opposing sides.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 22, 2026
"It's very rocky, and the fossils are in cliffs on the shore. Paleontologists hate excavating in cliffs, because the cliff could come down on you."
From Science Daily ● Feb. 11, 2026
Few studies come down on the side of large-scale job destruction.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 5, 2025
“The reaction to their embarrassment was to come down on him as hard as they could, to compensate for the fact that they weren’t watching him.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2025
Seven miles of ocean about to come down on my head and a doomsday demon just a few feet away: Why not just leap into its mouth right now?
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
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.
