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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