call off the dogs
To ease up on after inflicting great punishment.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Please call off the dogs and stop criticizing me.”
“The manager realized the employee had learned his lesson and decided to call off the dogs.”
“After the intense public investigation had effectively ruined the company's reputation, the regulators finally called off the dogs to allow for a period of restructuring.”
- 01
answer the call of nature
To satisfy a bodily urge to urinate or defecate.
- 02
buy a dog and bark oneself
To do something that one has hired someone else to do.
- 03
call a lid
To inform the press that no further news will be released from a governmental body that day.
- 04
call a spade a spade
To put it bluntly, to be outspoken; to speak the truth, to describe things as they really are.
- 05
call an audible
To change plans at the last minute in response to new information.
- 06
call it
To call it a day
- 07
call it a day
To cease an activity.
- 08
call it a night
To go to bed to sleep.
Last updated August 10, 2026