crackdown

/ˌkrækˈdaʊn/

/ˈkrækdaʊn/

Other forms: crackdowns

When an authority uses strict or harsh measures to curb certain behavior, it's a crackdown.

A crackdown can be seen as positive or negative, depending on what kind of activity is being limited. The violent crackdown of a repressive government on its citizens is anti-democratic, but your principal's crackdown on bullying is most likely good for everyone in your school. Crackdown, with its sense of "severe discipline," may have originated from the phrase crack the whip, although language experts aren't certain.

Definitions of crackdown

1. noun

   a severely repressive action
   type of:

   crushing, quelling, stifling, suppression

   forceful prevention; putting down by power or authority