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

In a post on social media, former president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy head of the Russian security council, wrote that President Zelensky had received "a slap down in the Oval Office".

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“The insolent pig finally got a proper slap down in the Oval Office,” wrote Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president.

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So when Kane diverted from his trademark non-controversial messaging to deliver what amounted to a very public slap down on England team-mates for missing the forthcoming Uefa Nations League games against Greece and the Republic of Ireland, it was a moment of wide significance.

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FDR, Harry Truman, JFK, LBJ and MLK deployed their dominance skills to crush Hitler, halt Stalin, slap down bigots like Charles Coughlin, George Wallace, and Barry Goldwater and enact practically every piece of progressive legislation that the Democrats are fighting a rearguard action to salvage today.

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As soon as Kildunne returned, wing Bo Westcombe-Evans was shown a yellow card for a deliberate slap down, but a number of handling errors from Canada meant they were unable to again take advantage of the extra player.

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Related Words

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