as in to quell
to put a stop to (something) by the use of force
a repressive government that cracked down on political demonstrations
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crack down (on)
Verb
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His statement did little to quell the outrage.—
Andy Greene,
Rolling Stone,
11 Feb. 2026 -
Soon after the national security law imposed by Beijing to quell the 2019 massive pro-democracy demonstrations took effect in June 2020, police arrested Lai.—
Kanis Leung,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Nevertheless, the free spirit of Americans cannot be suppressed.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
11 Feb. 2026
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The royal government was also known as a dictatorship for banning political parties, suppressing revolts and political opposition, controlling the press and having its own secret police force called SAVAK.—
Nollyanne Delacruz,
Mercury News,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Joe Brusuelas, senior economist at RSM US, highlighted a few of those factors when pushing back on White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett’s claim Monday that subdued job gains are primarily the result of lower population figures and higher productivity.—
Alicia Wallace,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
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State Police troopers used a Taser in an attempt to subdue him.—
Rick Sobey,
Boston Herald,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Yeah, go to a backyard, sit on the edge of your bed.—
Outside Online,
Outside Online,
11 Feb. 2026
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Standouts from Frisco Panther Creek, Flower Mound Marcus and Denton sit on top of the leaderboards.—
SportsDay Staff,
Dallas Morning News,
11 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Crack down (on).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crack%20down%20%28on%29. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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