mow down

Verb

mow down (third-person singular simple present mows down, present participle mowing down, simple past mowed down, past participle mown down)

1. (transitive) To cut down, especially in large numbers.
   • Our forecast calls for a return of summery weather in the 80s this weekend, so we actually can get out and mow down those weeds without having to inhale clouds of dust.2006 Sept. 15, "Roses ’n’ Razzies," gazettetimes.com (Oregon, USA) (retrieved 1 Apr 2011)
2. (broadly, figuratively, transitive) To kill or slaughter, or to injure by knocking down, especially in large numbers and in a ruthless manner.
   • [T]heir machine-gunners mowed down wave after wave of counterattacking Chinese.1952 October 27, “War in Korea: Bloodshed in the Hills”, in Time
   • ‘If I’d’ve had a bloody Tommy-gun I’d’ve mowed the lot of the bastards down!’1960, J. E. Macdonnell, Don't Gimme the Ships, Melbourne: Horwitz Publications, page 118