Meaning of bring someone to their knees in English:
bring someone to their knees
(also bring something to its knees)
phrase
Reduce someone or something to a state of weakness or submission.
‘the country was brought to its knees by a new strike’
‘The fish-farming industry was brought to its knees by some report saying that eating farmed salmon can kill you.’
‘Such a government could be brought to its knees within months.’
‘This is the man who brought our industry to its knees with his third report.’
‘In the 80s, it was thought AIDS, poverty and crime had brought the neighbourhood to its knees, but a new generation of young Hamburgers rediscovered the music clubs, discos and bars.’
‘The cost of the Commonwealth Games was £300m and it nearly brought the city to its knees until a last-minute government rescue package bailed it out.’
‘Two decades of civil war have really brought the country to its knees.’
‘We have a duty to properly investigate the people who brought the city to its knees.’
‘Instead, high winds and spectacular lightning accompanied hours of heavy rains which, at times, nearly brought the city to its knees.’
‘At Rangers, by contrast, manager Alex McLeish seemed doomed after a series of defeats at home brought the club to its knees.’
‘But the current crisis, which began in mid-1998, has brought the nation to its knees.’
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