1
general::
Phrase(s): slap something down
to strike downward with something flat in one’s hand. • She slapped the dollar bill down in great anger and took her paper cup full of water away with her. • Karen slapped down the money that the bailiff demanded., Phrase(s): slap someone down
1. Lit. to cause someone to fall by striking with the open hand. • She became enraged and slapped him down when he approached her again. • Liz slapped down the insulting wretch. 2. Fig. to squelch someone; to rebuke or rebuff someone. • I had a great idea, but the boss slapped me down. • Don’t slap down people without hearing what they have to say.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
Restrain or correct emphatically, as in They thought he was getting far too arrogant and needed to be slapped down. This idiom, which literally means "inflict a physical blow," began to be used figuratively in the first half of the 1900s.
American Heritage Idioms