Idiom: lay down the law
Meaning
Idiom: lay down the law
- to instruct people about what they have to do in an authoritative way
Example sentences
— My parents finally laid down the law and now none of us can use the Internet after 7:00 in the evening.
— When my husband tried to lay down the law, I told him we could either be partners or I’d leave him.
— We're going to have to lay down the law about staff taking 1-2 hour lunch breaks.
— My girlfriend laid down the law that if I don't meet her parents she'll break up with me.
— Our professor laid down the law about attendance. If we miss more than 20% of classes, we won't pass the course.
— We used to have a casual dress code on Fridays but they had to lay down the law when people started to wear ripped jeans.
— We've been forced to lay down the law—from now on staff must use an electronic punch card system to record their work hours.
— My wife refuses to lay down the law with our puppy so he's destroying our furniture and chewing up our shoes.
— I don't have a mobile phone right now because my parents laid down the law and took it away from me for using it at night.
Synonyms
- put one's foot down
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- Idiom: lay down the law
