English
sabre-rattling
Noun

sabre-rattling

  1. (idiomatic) A flamboyant display of military power as an implied threat that it might be used.
  2. (idiomatic, figuratively) Any threat, such as one company threatening another with a lawsuit.
Translations Translations Verb
  1. present participle of sabre-rattle#English|sabre-rattle
Adjective

sabre-rattling

  1. Bellicose; threatening military action.
    • 2002, Colin Jones (historian), The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 121:
      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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