strike down
phrasal verbstrike somebody down [usually passive]
- (of a disease, etc.) to make somebody seriously ill; to kill somebody
- He was struck down by cancer at the age of thirty.
- He was struck down with food poisoning.
- to hit somebody very hard, so that they fall to the ground
strike something down
- (especially North American English) to decide that a law is illegal and should not apply
- The Supreme Court struck down a Texas state law.
- The law was struck down as unconstitutional.