ride herd on

From the cowboy task of driving cattle while riding along with them.

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ride herd on (third-person singular simple present rides herd on, present participle riding herd on, simple past rode herd on, past participle ridden herd on)

1. (transitive, idiomatic, US) To supervise.

   As the new editor, his job is to ride herd on the staff and check on the tone of the articles.

   • 1981, John Updike, Rabbit is Rich:

     But Rabbit feels as though he owns it all, showing up at the showroom day after day, riding herd on the paperwork and the payroll […]

   • 2013, Lori Wilde, Love at First Sight

     She'd gotten swept up in running the B&B and riding herd on her sister, Zoey, but she'd kept the faith.