take lying down

Idioms  

1. Submit to an insult, rebuke, or other harsh treatment without resisting, as in He won't take that snub lying down. This idiom uses lying down in the sense of “passively.” [Late 1800s] Also see take it, def. 2.

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Example Sentences

It is not a punishment that the clubs fans – and especially not its owners in Abu Dhabi – are likely to take lying down, says Jonathan Liew.

From The Guardian • Feb. 18, 2020

That presumably is good training for getting into office when that becomes a politician’s full-time job, but that isn’t something we should take lying down.

From Slate • Oct. 8, 2014

“This is a particularly difficult one for us to just take lying down because it’s about a federal agent,” said John Negroponte, the American ambassador here from 1989 to 1993.

From New York Times • Aug. 19, 2013

This decision the wives of U. S. delegates did not take lying down.

From Time Magazine Archive

You've made an accusation that no man could take lying down.

From The Keeper of the Door by Dell, Ethel M. (Ethel May)