carrot and stick

Idioms  

1. Reward and punishment used as persuasive measures, as in Management dangled the carrot of a possible raise before strikers, but at the same time waved the stick of losing their pension benefits. This term alludes to enticing a horse or donkey to move by dangling a carrot before it and, either alternately or at the same time, urging it forward by beating it with a stick. [Late 1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

carrot and stick

So the money can be both carrot and stick.

From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2026

“They have used carrot and stick, but I think mostly carrot, to persuade the Syrians that they can serve a useful function for them and they have something to gain from each other.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026

Officials and foreign policy observers agree that Trump deftly used a mix of carrot and stick -- publicly and privately, and especially with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- to get the deal done.

From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2025

“We’ll have that carrot and stick approach,” Kenney said “We need that carrot approach to continue to move the economic needle while preserving our freshwater resources.”

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 5, 2023

But he's likely to use some carrot and stick.

From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2023