put/tighten the screws on sb
informalto use force or threats to make someone do what you want:
They put the screws on him until he paid up.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Causing somebody to act
- a kick up the arse/backside idiom
- arm-twisting
- bludgeon
- bounce
- bounce sb into sth
- bulldoze
- force sb's hand idiom
- forcible
- hold sb to ransom idiom
- impel
- impose
- push
- railroad
- screw
- shanghai
- slap sth on/onto (sth/sb)
- squeeze
- squeeze sth out of sb
- trap
- wring sth from/out of sb
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