put one's foot down
To take a decided stand; be stubborn in decision.
Занять твeрдую позицию; быть непреклонным в своем решении.
John didn't want to practice his piano lesson, but his teacher put his foot down.
When it came to smoking pot at parties, our parents put their foot down.
This has gone far enough; he is going to put his foot down.
Это зашло довольно далеко; он собирается положить этому конец.
putdown
An insult.
It was a nasty putdown when John called his sister a fat cow.
right down one's alley
right up one's alley
In accordance with one's specialty or predilection.
This kind of preclassical music is right up Bill's alley; after all, he wrote his Ph.D. on Bach.
rub down
To dry the body of (an animal or person) by rubbing.
Stablemen rub down a horse after a race.
To rub and press with the fingers on the body of (a person) to loosen muscles or prevent stiffness; massage.
Trainers rub down an athlete after hard exercise.
rubdown
A massage.
The chiropractor gave his patient a powerful rubdown.
run down
(stress on down) To crash against and knock down or sink.
Jack rode his bicycle too fast and almost ran down his little brother.
It was so foggy that the steamship almost ran down a small boat leaving port.
To chase until exhausted or caught.
The dogs ran down the wounded deer.
To find by hard and thorough search; also: trace to its cause or beginning.
The policeman ran down proof that the burglar had robbed the store.
To catch (a base runner) between bases and tag out in baseball.
The pitcher saw that the base runner was not on base, so he surprised him by throwing the ball to the first baseman, who ran him down before he reached second base.
To say bad things about; criticize.
Suzy ran down the club because the girls wouldn't let her join.
To stop working; not run or go.
The battery in Father's car ran down this morning.
The kitchen clock ran down because we forgot to wind it.
To get into poor condition; look bad.
A neighborhood runs down when the people don't take care of their houses.
run-down
(stress on "run") In poor health or condition; weak or needing much work.
Grandma caught a cold because she was very run-down from loss of sleep.
The houses near the center of the city get more run-down every year.
scale down
To make smaller or less; decrease.
John scaled down each boy's share of food after a bear robbed the camp.
Tom built a scaled down model of the plane.