sabre-rattling
See also: sabre rattling
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
- saber-rattling (mostly US), saber rattling (mostly US), sabre rattling
Etymology[edit]
From the early 20th century, when an officer would threaten to draw his sabre.
Pronunciation[edit]
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Audio (AU) (file)
Noun[edit]
sabre-rattling (countable and uncountable, plural sabre-rattlings)
- (idiomatic) A flamboyant display of military power as an implied threat that it might be used.
- (idiomatic, figuratively) Any threat, such as one company threatening another with a lawsuit.
Translations[edit]
display of military power as an implied threat
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figuratively: any threat
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See also[edit]
Verb[edit]
sabre-rattling
- present participle and gerund of sabre-rattle
Adjective[edit]
sabre-rattling (comparative more sabre-rattling, superlative most sabre-rattling)
- Bellicose; threatening military action.
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2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 121:
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But it excited much discontent in sabre-rattling court circles which regarded Austrophilia as the most un-French of diplomatic perversions.
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