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iron hand
[ ahy-ern hand ]
noun
- strict, harsh, or autocratic, often ruthless control:
The general governed the country with an iron hand.
iron hand
noun
- harsh or rigorous control; overbearing or autocratic force
he ruled with an iron hand
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Word History and Origins
Origin of iron hand1
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Idioms and Phrases
Rigorous control, as in He ruled the company with an iron hand . This usage is sometimes put as iron hand in a velvet glove , meaning “firm but seemingly gentle control,” as in She runs the town with an iron hand in a velvet glove . [c. 1700]Discover More
Example Sentences
Jack not only ran the noon games — with an iron hand — but was, more often than not, the best player.
At 75, the spirited Pacha founder, Ricardo Urgell, keeps an iron hand on his empire.
There is no doubt that, had necessity with her iron hand compelled him, he would have been an excellent painter.
To a great extent the army, ever partial to the iron hand, has given it the support of its great power.
But the count once more expatiated on the iron hand indispensable for children as well as for the people.
While it lasted we literally and constantly meet with the “iron hand under the velvet glove.”
The iron hand of Nemesis seemed reaching out to grasp Nevill, and he shuddered as he realized his danger.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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