to bring to its knees
19
6.5
- idiom
- Informal
:
poner de rodillas
- Yes, a union can bring a business to its knees.
- bring the city to its knees
- bring the economy to its knees
- bring a nation to its knees
But many a high performance notebook around here has been brought to its knees by our usability tests.
- But many a high performance notebook around here has been brought to its knees by our usability tests.
- I mean, I always like to say a tiny virus can bring earth to its knees.
- We basically brought Serbia to its knees in order to, you know, fulfill UN mandate that they stopped, you know, you know, murdering the Kosovars.
Examples
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Another capital city brought to its knees.
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America will be brought to its knees by this terrorist act.
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A key with the power to bring the world to its knees.
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New York City has been brought to its knees by the events of the past week.
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The military machine that brought Europe to its knees was just a plan then.
Blog text (6) -
The thing that brought the markets to their knees in the end was gas prices.
Blog text (6) -
Countless companies made record profits while people below them were brought to their knees by this economy.
Blog text (7) -
It is killing jobs and it is bringing this country to its knees.
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The auditors succeeded in bringing the climate establishment to its knees because people trusted the auditors.
Blog text (23) -
The economic crisis has the potential to bring the entire industry to its knees.
Synonyms
1
8.2
To make someone very weak and unable to fight back
Antonyms
How Damaged
∞
1.0
- Informal
19
6.5
885
1.4
53
1.6
738
1.0
305
2.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase composes transparently from 'bring' + 'to' + 'its' + 'knees', evoking the literal image of forcing someone or something down into a submissive posture; this physical image can lead learners to infer a metaphorical meaning of defeat or overwhelming. However, the extension to 'render unable to function' is a figurative step that may not be fully predictable for a B1 learner without exposure, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The phrase bring to its knees comes from the image of forcing a person or a group down onto their knees, so they cannot stand or fight. So it now means 'to defeat' or 'to overwhelm' someone or something.