slap down

verb

slapped down; slapping down; slaps down

transitive verb

1

: to prohibit or restrain usually abruptly and with censure from acting in a specified way : squelch

2

: to put an abrupt stop to : suppress

Synonyms

• clamp down (on)
• crack down (on)
• crush
• put down
• quash
• quell
• repress
• silence
• snuff (out)
• squash
• squelch
• subdue
• suppress

Examples of slap down in a Sentence

public protests against the dictatorial government were always promptly slapped down

Recent Examples on the Web

It’s been 10 years since film producer Cash Warren and his longtime buddies Alan Stuart and David Ehrenberg reached into their wallets and slapped down $1,500 each to start a sock company. —Jean E. Palmieri, WWD, 15 July 2024

This is a court so conservative that it has been repeatedly slapped down by the Supreme Court, including in three out of 10 appeals from its rulings this term. —Ruth Marcus, Washington Post, 3 July 2024

But Trump’s camp has already made sure to highlight attempts Biden has made to make good on his promise that have been slapped down. —Max Thornberry, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 26 June 2024

That was, of course, not the high court’s decision, and in fact the court slapped down Arizona’s attempt to preempt federal powers on immigration. —New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 26 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1842, in the meaning defined at sense 1