The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 4 plus 2 plus 4 letter word CUT DOWN TO SIZE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
C
U
T
D
O
W
N
T
O
S
I
Z
E
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "put in one’s place" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case put in one’s place = cut down to size.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.