From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishput the fear of God into somebodyput the fear of God into somebodyinformalFRIGHTENED to make someone feel that they must do something, by making sure they know what will happen if they do not do it The Italian manager must have put the fear of God into his team. → fear
Examples from the Corpus
put the fear of God into somebody• The IRS tries to put the fear of God into people who don't pay enough tax. 