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.
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.