big stick
Americannoun
noun
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012Etymology
Origin of big stick
An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But failure would give the government's main opponent, Reform, a big stick with which to beat it, at the next election.
From BBC
"This was ultimately a negotiation in which President Trump was threatening other countries with a big stick and that stick just got considerably more ephemeral."
From BBC
One is that Trump has turned Theodore Roosevelt’s maxim to “speak softly and carry a big stick” on its head: He speaks loudly and carries barely any stick at all.
From Los Angeles Times
This feeling of certainty and Scotland sit as well together as a hornets' nest and a big stick.
From BBC
That is a big stick to beat his players with.
From BBC
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.
