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sabre-rattling. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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sabre-rattling in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
From the early 20th century, when an officer would threaten to draw his sabre.
Pronunciation
Noun
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
display of military power as an implied threat
See also
Verb
sabre-rattling
- present participle and gerund of sabre-rattle
Adjective
sabre-rattling (comparative more sabre-rattling, superlative most sabre-rattling)
- Bellicose; threatening military action.
2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 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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