bring to one's knees

From the act of kneeling in submission before a person in power.

bring to one's knees (third-person singular simple present brings to one's knees, present participle bringing to one's knees, simple past and past participle brought to one's knees)

1. (idiomatic) To defeat and make submit to orders.

• “bring sb sth to their knees”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “bring somebody something to their knees” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.