put one's foot down

1. Take a firm stand, as in She put her foot down and said we could not go to the carnival. This idiom alludes to setting down one's foot firmly, representing a firm position. [Late 1800s]

Example Sentences

Standing in the bare stone hall, and surveying a staircase of superb breadth, but cracked and carpetless, she further ventured the opinion that there were rats, as large as terriers at home, and that if one put one's foot down with any force one would come through the floor.

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Related Words

• declare 
• dictate 
• enact 
• impose 
• proclaim