crack down

e. g: Compelled by the situation, the police went into action and cracked down on the rebellion before it could grow out of control.

Another, he admits, is that when one of his predecessors cracked down on smuggling, a mob burnt down the police station.

Some Americans and Europeans, particularly human-rights observers, say that China has cracked down on human rights over the last few years.

They still needed to eat, however, so there was the emergence of a market economy. It may have been illegal, but no-one cracked down on it.

Having been embarrassed once by such a gaffe, you might have thought that Apple would have cracked down hard on such careless behaviour.

Beijing cracked down on street vending ahead of the Olympics a year ago, and the number of peddlers in the city center remains diminished.

Since McCluskey's killing, the police have cracked down on our operations, and also the other families. There's been a lot of bad blood.

The company cracked down on vendors selling counterfeit versions of Burberry clothes at discount rates.

It cracked down on nepotism, resulting in " thousands" of dismissals over the past two years.

In a number of high-profile cases, the police have cracked down on trafficking rings and publicized the results.

Last month police officers in Midtown cracked down and asked many trucks to leave their spots.

AMANPOUR: But is it because he's such a big name that he's not, you know, more seriously punished and cracked down, do you think?

For the Olympics, the government made clean air one of its top priorities and cracked down on violators.

There are pet shops and pet markets all over the place, that are selling large-size dogs and no one has cracked down.

But he also cracked down on anti-Kremlin protests and refused to allow gay-pride marches, calling homosexuality "satanic. "

We severely cracked down on criminal activities in accordance with law and slowed down the rise in serious crime.

Syrian security officials have cracked down on the demonstrations, firing tear gas and live ammunition to disperse protesters.

It has been imposing stricter controls on mining and cracked down on unlicensed mining and smuggling.

Even as political debate blossomed, Iran's security services cracked down on religious and ethnic minorities.

Jiang said China is "resolutely" opposed to so-called cyber crimes and has cracked down on such crimes, including hacking.

When Iran cracked down on pro-democracy protesters in June, he muted his criticism for fear of disrupting the nuclear talks.

AMANPOUR: So then they cracked down on him, right, in the Cultural Revolution?

The Australian tax authorities, too, have cracked down on the use of payment cards to draw money from offshore bank accounts.

Colonel Qaddafi survived countless coup and assassination attempts and cracked down harshly afterward, alienating important Libyan tribes.

"The Guardians have cracked down harder, " Qui-Gon said wearily. It was a familiar scenario.

Human rights activists and dissident journalists began to complain more loudly, and the government cracked down even harder.

An NGO reported that in June local officials in North Hamkyung Province cracked down on illegal movies from the ROK.

Recently, pyramid sale has begun to spread again after being cracked down repeatedly.

Arranged marriages with foreigners fell in Taiwan after the government cracked down on them, but they continue to rise elsewhere.

The customs officers cracked down on smugglers.

This year, ahead of the Beijing Olympics, China wants no trouble, while North Korea has also cracked down at the border.

These mobs should be cracked down on by severe law.

Despite his early rhetoric emphasizing political pluralism, Ben Ali cracked down against free speech and any potential dissent.

In a back-handed compliment, the Iranian authorities cracked down harder on journalists.

The government has cracked down on peaceful calls for reform, and forced millions to flee their homeland.

The regime cracked down on market activities a short time later.

It started to fall. In the liberation war, and was cracked down after New China was founded.

Griffiths said that many banks would relocate abroad if the government cracked down on bonus culture.

It is time London cracked down on cyclists' behaviour.

After the CBRC cracked down at the end of 2009, this pas de deux became more of a round dance.

Until recent years, the government cracked down on any critics of the dam.

The government only recently cracked down on the demonstrations.

The principal cracked down on the school bully after he started another fight .

Or, as philosopher and social critic Fukasaku Yasubumi declared at the time: "God cracked down a great hammer" on the Japanese nation.

The whip cracked down on the horse's rump .

In response, authorities have cracked down hard on people who challenge redevelopment.

Illegal dealers shall be severely cracked down upon according to relevant laws and regulations. . .

In a desperate effort to prop up its popularity, it cracked down even harder.

Finally, as many news stories have pointed out, Beijing has cracked down hard on visas for foreigners.

I heard they cracked down on that business.

Yet since 2005 the regime has cracked down on them.

Foreign journalists have been expelled as the government has cracked down.

The government cracked down on violators.

Uh, hello? - You shouldn't have come back, Cowboy. They've cracked down hard since you left.

Aluminium requires a lot of power to produce and the industry was targeted last year when China cracked down on high energy users.

But from 2005 the regime cracked down again.

In the past month, authorities in China's north-east have cracked down with dawn raids on neighbourhoods in search of North Koreans.

And finally the Chinese cracked down.

All year, Beijing's leaders have systematically cracked down on political dissent and cyberspace activity;

The police cracked down on the ticket scalpers outside the soccer ground

The troops cracked down on insurgents,

sports lottery and gambling should be differentiated, and ball gambling acts should be cracked down according to the Criminal Law;