What does sévir in French mean?

What is the meaning of the word sévir in French? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use sévir in French.

The word sévir in French means crack down, clamp down, hit, strike, crack the whip. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word sévir

crack down, clamp down

verbe intransitif (punir, réprimer)

(phrasal verb, intransitive: Verb with adverb(s) or preposition(s), having special meaning and not taking direct object--for example, "make up" [=reconcile]: "After they fought, they made up.")
Si tu continues à faire pleurer ton frère, je vais devoir sévir.
If you keep on making your brother cry, I'm going to have to put my foot down.

hit, strike

verbe intransitif (frapper)

(intransitive verb: Verb not taking a direct object--for example, "She jokes." "He has arrived.")
La grêle a sévi trois fois cette année sur ce village.
Hail has struck three times this year in this village.

crack the whip

verbe intransitif (familier, péjoratif (occuper une fonction) (figurative, pejorative, informal)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Cette professeure revêche a sévi pendant 25 ans, traumatisant autant de classes d'adolescents.
This surly teacher has been cracking the whip for 25 years, traumatizing as many classfuls of teenagers.

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French (le français) is a Romance language. Like Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, it comes from popular Latin, once used in the Roman Empire. A French-speaking person or country can be called a "Francophone". French is the official language in 29 countries. French is the fourth most spoken native language in the European Union. French ranks third in the EU, after English and German, and is the second most widely taught language after English. The majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa, with about 141 million Africans from 34 countries and territories who can speak French as a first or second language. French is the second most widely spoken language in Canada, after English, and both are official languages at the federal level. It is the first language of 9.5 million people or 29% and the second language of 2.07 million people or 6% of the entire population of Canada. In contrast to other continents, French has no popularity in Asia. Currently, no country in Asia recognizes French as an official language.