Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun idiomatic A
flamboyant display ofmilitary power as animplied threat that it might be used. - noun idiomatic, figuratively Any threat, such as one company threatening another with a lawsuit.
- adjective
Bellicose ; threatening military action.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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If the recent sabre-rattling over the Straits of Hormuz had not been enough, Iran said it intended at Fordo to enrich uranium to the highly sensitive 20% enrichment level, regarded in the industry as the technical threshold for bomb-grade material.
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With sabre-rattling by the hawks in Congress and pressure from Israel for a tougher stand against Iran, there is now increased talk of a military attack against Tehran's nuclear programme.
Nine years of war in Iraq leaves US with little appetite for fighting 2011
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According to Forbes, Barack Obama is the new Jimmy Carter; weak and wishy-washy in the face of the threats from North Korea's nuclear sabre-rattling.
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In the great race to prosperity—and thus global hegemony—presently taking place between India and China, anyone interested in the survival of a liberal-minded and tolerant civilization must be rooting for the victory of India, infused with the best traditions of Westminster-style representative institutions, over a sabre-rattling, resentful and totalitarian China.
India, Still the Brightest Jewel Andrew Roberts 2011
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But more sabre-rattling about Iran's nuclear program will not help.
Adam Chandler: Show, Don't Tell: WikiLeaks and Our War with Iran Adam Chandler 2010
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Still, men who want something other than sabre-rattling should maybe give it a try.
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Erdoğan's ambition to be recognised as mastermind and trailblazer in the Middle East gives his rhetoric a sabre-rattling undertone.
Lord Weidenfeld of Chelsea: The Dangerous Consequences of Palestinian Statehood Lord Weidenfeld of Chelsea 2011
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But within the context of following a militaristic, unilaterally acting, anti-social, sabre-rattling, "crusade" starting, fear-mongering, hate-generating machine, and viewed as a signal to us and the rest of the world that THIS behavior is what is expected of good neighbors, not the other, then it makes more sense.
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In contrast, Red Neck Donny and the rest of the teabagger clowns can only resort to he-man sabre-rattling.
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But more sabre-rattling about Iran's nuclear program will not help.
Adam Chandler: Show, Don't Tell: WikiLeaks and Our War with Iran Adam Chandler 2010
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