Word.ws English Dictionary

slap down

slap down verb: to browbeat or reprimand (someone) harshly, usually in front of other people. Also the alternative spelling of slapdown.

Verb

slap down (third-person singular simple present slaps down, present participle slapping down, simple past and past participle slapped down)

  1. (transitive) To browbeat or reprimand (someone) harshly, usually in front of other people.
    • She slapped down her subordinate at the meeting.
  2. (transitive) To harshly reject (something).
    • The judge slapped down the department's rule rewrites.

Also used as

slap down is also the alternative spelling of slapdown.

Forms of slap down

Verb
third-person singular presentslaps down
present participleslapping down
past participleslapped down
pastslapped down
alternative formslap-down
Noun
pluralslap downs

Origin of slap down

Metaphorical use of a literal phrase (slap + down).

Questions about slap down

What does slap down mean?
Slap down means to browbeat or reprimand (someone) harshly, usually in front of other people.
What part of speech is slap down?
Slap down is a verb.
What is the past tense of slap down?
The past tense of slap down is slapped down.

Words near slap down in the dictionary

  1. slap bets
  2. slap bracelet
  3. slap bracelets
  4. slap chip
  5. slap chips
  6. slap down
  7. slap downs
  8. slap fight
  9. slap fighting
  10. slap fights
  11. slap fought

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: slap down (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “slap down.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/slap_down. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.