tyrannize

verb

1. (transitive)To oppress (someone).

   “In truth he was the type of man who is spoilt by the submission of weaker people than himself. There are such men, who must either be tyrannized or be tyrants […]”

   “2001, Breena Clarke, “Roots of Success” (review of On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker by A’Lelia Bundles), Chicago Tribune, 18 February, 2001, I spent the first 18 years of my life tyrannized by a red-hot hair-pressing comb. Well, maybe tyrannized is an exaggeration. But covering your ears while hot grease sizzles nearby is not a young girl's idea of a fun time.”

2. (intransitive)To rule as a tyrant.

   “The prince tyrannized over his subjects.”

   “What? will they tyrannize vpon the Church?”

   “Ah, Rome! Well, well; I made thee miserable What time I threw the people’s suffrages On him that thus doth tyrannize o’er me.”

   “[…] lest som should perswade ye, Lords and Commons, that these arguments of lerned mens discouragement at this your order, are meer flourishes, and not reall, I could recount what I have seen and heard in other Countries, where this kind of inquisition tyrannizes […]”

   “Parental affection, indeed, in many minds, is but a pretext to tyrannize where it can be done with impunity, for only good and wise men are content with the respect that will bear discussion.”