crackdown
n. countablen. a sudden, strong action by people in power to stop a specific activity or behavior. You usually hear about this when the police or government start strictly enforcing rules that were ignored before.
n. a period of intensified enforcement of laws or regulations, typically involving increased surveillance or punitive measures. Often used in political or legal contexts to describe a sudden shift from leniency to strictness.
The city announced a major crackdown on illegal parking this week.
Following a series of accidents, the local government launched a crackdown on speeding in residential areas.
The sudden regulatory crackdown on tech firms led to a sharp decline in market confidence as investors feared more restrictive legislation would follow.
Deverbal from crack down.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Commonly takes the preposition 'on' to indicate the target of the enforcement.
the government made a crack downthe government launched a crackdownThe noun is a single word 'crackdown'; the two-word form 'crack down' is the phrasal verb.
Last updated May 6, 2026