cracked down; cracking down; cracks down
: to take positive regulatory or disciplinary action
Examples of crackdown in a Sentence
Noun
Companies that pollute are the target of a new crackdown.
Verb
a repressive government that cracked down on political demonstrations
Recent Examples on the Web
Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 16 Jan. 2026
Iranian security forces launched a brutal crackdown to end the widespread anti-government protests, which sources inside the country say may have resulted in the deaths of some 12,000 people, and potentially many more.
—Tucker Reals, CBS News, 15 Jan. 2026
Alanna Durkin Richer, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2026
Over the past week, the president has ramped up threats to take Greenland, claiming the United States needs the Arctic island to secure national security, and warned of potential military strikes against Iran as the regime violently cracks down on protesters.
—Kathryn Palmer, USA Today, 14 Jan. 2026
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Noun
Here's how market watchers are navigating it Energy markets have been rocked by volatility in recent days, as investors weigh a violent crackdown on civil unrest in oil-rich Iran — and the response from Washington.
—Verb
While classified documents investigations aren’t unusual, the search of a reporter’s home marks an escalation in the government’s efforts to crack down on leaks.
—Cite this Entry
“Crackdown.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crackdown. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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