to ram down
4
7.1
- phrasal verb
- /ræm daʊn/
- In the video game, you can ram down barriers to gain access to hidden areas.
Examples
-
3.) The President of the U.S. rammed down a health insurance "mandate" for 340 million Americans, which is a disaster and will be the end of the republic if allowed to stand.
Blog text (7) -
The firefighters had to ram down the burning door to rescue the trapped occupants.
-
Obviously, since at that moment Aleck Sander rammed down at him the end of a long pole, almost a log, whose first pass struck his feet out from under him and sent his head under again and almost broke his hold on the willow until a voice said:
Fiction book (1999) -
The angry protestors threatened to ram down the barricades set up by the police.
Synonyms
∞
5.5
Cause someone or something to fall and be defeated
637
2.2
To hit something with great force and cause damage
231
1.3
To hit something again and again very hard
106
2.0
Make something move down by using force
97
2.9
To hit someone or something very hard
61
4.1
To hit something with great force
49
3.2
Make a building or wall fall down suddenly
43
3.4
Push something quickly and hard into place
41
3.6
To make a person or thing fall to the ground, often by force
33
6.8
Cause someone to fall, become sick, or die suddenly
31
2.5
To push something down with force to make it flat or close it
22
5.5
Force open a door or gate by hitting it with your foot
21
4.8
To knock someone to the ground with force
19
6.0
Put something down hard so it makes a loud noise or quickly drink something
19
5.5
To press hard on something with great force
11
2.2
Push something down using your hand or weight
10
3.7
Hit someone or something very hard
6
7.0
Press hard on something or make it feel heavy
6
7.3
To hit something or someone very hard
5
6.7
To put something down so it makes a noise or to pay money quickly
4
7.9
To hit someone or something very hard
4
5.6
To knock someone down with force, often in sport
2
6.3
To hit something hard so it moves or gets damaged
1
5.3
Press something down firmly to make it more compact
1
7.1
Force a door open by hitting it hard
1
8.6
To hit someone hard so they fall down
1
9.9
To hit something suddenly with great force
1
8.0
To put something down hard, often making a loud sound
To knock someone to the ground as if hit by a heavy weapon
Antonyms
How Forceful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal verb 'ram' (to strike violently) combined with 'down' yields a clear image of forceful imposition, so a learner can plausibly infer the metaphorical meaning of forcing ideas on someone. However, the shift from physical violence to imposing opinions is a figurative extension and the particle use is not fully predictable, so a B1 learner who has not seen the phrase before may not reliably derive the exact sense.
Etymology
Ram down comes from the image of using a heavy ram to push or hit something down until it closes, like forcing a lid or gate shut. So, it means 'to strike or force something down with great strength'.