bring to heel

present singular third person brings to heel · participle present bringing to heel · participle past brought to heel · past brought to heel · alternative call to heel

1. idiomatictransitiveTo compel someone to obey; to force someone into a submissive condition.

   Now Pasha says the ISI is the only organization that can bring the wayward Taliban to heel.

   2011 April 4, “Ahmad Shuja Pasha”, in Time

   5 more examples

   They wanted a lesson, and they would get it; but it would take three months at least to bring them to heel.

   1906, John Galsworthy, chapter 12, in The Forsyte Saga, Part I

   Even some fellow Conservatives maintain that Sir William has shown a dangerously authoritarian streak since enlisting as a general in Mrs. Thatcher's single-minded campaign to bring broadcasters to heel.

   1988 June 10, Howell Raines, “Journal: In Tory Country, Someone to Watch Over TV”, in New York Times, retrieved 16 Jan 2012

   In reference to black teenagers, "We also have to have an organized effort against gangs…. They are not just gangs of kids anymore. They are often the kinds of kids that are called superpredators. No conscience, no empathy. We can talk about why they ended up that way, but first we have to bring them to heel.

   1996 January 28, “Hillary Clinton”, in C-SPAN - Keene State College in New Hampshire

   We know that Putin has vastly improved Russia’s armed forces, adding everything from hypersonic missile capabilities to advanced cyberwarfare tools. He has the firepower to bring Ukraine to heel.

   2022 February 25, Thomas L. Friedman, “We Have Never Been Here Before”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   Network Rail, which had been able to secure funding from a multitude of 'patient capital' players across the world, was brought to heel, its credit card scissored.

   2023 July 12, Jim Steer, “Rail's route to seizing the initiative”, in RAIL, number 987, page 39

2. idiomatictransitiveTo cause to act in a disciplined manner.