put the brakes on
The idiom "put the brakes on" is derived from the literal action of using brakes to slow or stop a vehicle, and is commonly used to describe halting or slowing down various activities or processes.
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Definition
B2General
(informal)To slow down or stop the progress of an activity or process.
Example
- The manager decided to put the brakes on the project due to budget constraints.
- We need to put the brakes on spending if we want to save money.
B2Personal Activity
(informal)To cease or reduce one's level of activity.
Example
- After working non-stop for weeks, she decided to put the brakes on and take a vacation.
- He put the brakes on his workout routine due to an injury.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "put the brakes on":
slow downcome to a stopemergency brakeput one's foot downrein upput the pedal to the metalthrottle downbrake testbrake blockput a crimp inrelease the handbrakerein inbrake lightstop shortbreak withhold backcall off the dogsstop traffic