take (something) lying down
To accept or endure something without struggle, resistance, or opposition. (Often used in negative constructions.) You'll never be respected around here if you keep taking these taunts lying down. I will not take this lying down! You can expect to hear from my attorney.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
take something lying down
Fig. to endure something unpleasant without fighting back. He insulted me publicly. You don't expect me to take that lying down, do you? I'm not the kind of person who'll take something like that lying down.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
take lying down
Submit to an insult, rebuke, or other harsh treatment without resisting, as in
He won't take that snub lying down. This idiom uses
lying down in the sense of "passively." [Late 1800s] Also see
take it, def. 2.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
take lying down
Informal To submit to harsh treatment with no resistance: refused to take the snub lying down.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.