crack down

crack down

1. verb To address or control something more strictly than in the past. After years of leniency, the school is finally cracking down on plagiarism.
2. noun A period of stricter control of something. When used as a noun, the phrase is usually written as one word. After years of leniency, there's finally been a crackdown on plagiarism at the school.
See also: crack, down
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

crack down (on someone or something)

to put limits on someone or something; to become strict about enforcing rules about someone or something. The police cracked down on the street gangs. They cracked down once last year too.
See also: crack, down
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

crack down

Act more forcefully to regulate, repress, or restrain. For example, The police cracked down on speeding. [1930s]
See also: crack, down
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

crack down

v.
1. To increase the intensity or severity involved in preventing or regulating something: The police are cracking down on drunk driving and issuing stiffer penalties. The police cracked down after the murder last week.
2. To increase the intensity or severity involved in punishing or repressing someone: The government has cracked down on protesters.
See also: crack, down
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • fix on
  • fix on (someone or something)
  • bag it
  • bag someone
  • bagged
  • bagging
  • cross over
  • cook out
  • fall out
  • fallout
References in periodicals archive
LiMandri said the agency has taken steps to crack down on both violators and negligent department workers.
All eyes on safety
London Mayor Boris Johnson has announced plans to crack down on London's illegal cab trade by doubling the number of enforcement officers from 34 to 68 and introducing a 'one-strike' rule that would ensure cabbies convicted of touting would immediately have their licence revoked.
Threat posed by unlicensed cabs
The group aims to crack down on pollution, illegal tipping or poaching around the river with the help of the public.
Fish crimes crackdown
A Home Office spokesman said: "The Government is determined to crack down firmly on drunken yobs."
Warning to drink sellers
They were part of the launch of a three-month nationwide campaign called Operation Crack Down.
pounds 30, 000 worth of cocaine seized in raids
Less-affluent nations may be bearing the brunt as developed nations including the United States crack down on mercury pollution.
The world's dumping ground?
Police in Beijing, China have seized more than one million pirated books and audio-visual products during a month-long crack down.
Police seize over 1 Million pirated books
(Ankara wants the US forces in northern Iraq to crack down on the remnants of the Kurdistan Workers Party, which now calls itself Kadek.
TURKEY - Sept. 12 - US Talks On Kurdish Rebels In Iraq
In a July 16 Wall Street Journal article, Westley was quoted as saying, "It is time to crack down. It's a way to work more effectively together and get more bang for the buck."
Under scrutiny
South Korea on Wednesday arrested a suspected former North Korean spy who claimed to have been involved in helping Chinese authorities crack down on North Korean refugees in China, officials said.
Suspected N. Korea spy on refugees arrested in S. Korea
The problems are political in the sense that countries have to be persuaded that it is in their interests to crack down on financial criminals.
Offshore underbelly: the ability to perpetrate insurance fraud offshore is enhanced by the capabilities of the Internet. The financial loss to insurers is compounded by the loss of trust in the industry that fraud causes. (Fraud: Q&A Industry Strategies)
Border authorities have been trying to crack down on the traffickers' subterranean routes, but there are difficulties in locating the passages.
Tunnel vision. (Out of the Box)
"United Nations police in Kosovo are being given new powers in an attempt to crack down on organized crime," reported the BBC on March 19th.
New UN police powers in the Balkans. (Insider Report)
China and Vietnam have agreed to jointly crack down on the trafficking of women and children across their common border, UNICEF announced yesterday.
International child welfare briefs. (World's Children)
Safe Roads" initiative is designed to bring together interested parties to help support the enactment of comprehensive drunk-driving laws that crack down on hard-core drunk drivers and repeat offenders.
Florida passes repeat offender DUI law