Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for big stick. Search instead for minus--tick.
Synonyms

big stick

American  

noun

  1. force, especially political or military, used by a government as a means of influence.

big stick British  

noun

  1. informal force or the threat of using force

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

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.

"There has to be a big stick and a big carrot here," he argues.

From BBC • Mar. 13, 2026

“We don’t go in with the big stick to begin with,” Morling said.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 15, 2024

“I had a big stick, and I was banging on the box, really whaling on it. So he wasn’t just plopped on his feet. Because I wanted him to be alighting down to the ground.”

From New York Times • Jan. 26, 2022

Despite the big stick, keeping the quiet has never been easy.

From Salon • Oct. 9, 2021

"A man doesn't have a worry in the world, while I've got a baby hanging over my head like a big stick, to keep me in line."

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath

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.