to [bring, knock, take] down a [notch, peg] [or two]
Contexto
As Marco Rubio has emerged as the smart-money favorite (or at least co-favorite, along with Ted Cruz) for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, there has been a nagging suspicion in enemy camps and the mainstream media that the Florida senator history of sloppy personal finances could be used by a rival with bad intent to take him down a notch or two.
Tipo de fuente
newspaper
Autor
Ed Kilgore
Título de la fuente
Marco Rubio Messy Financial History May Be His Downfall Yet
It is not so frequent with the sense of criticising.
We did not find examples, but the dictionary states that it can also be said “to take down a notch” without “or two”.