mailed fist

noun

1. superior force, especially military force, when presented as a threat.

   The country showed its mailed fist in negotiations.

2. brutal or naked power, especially coercive force.

   the mailed fist hidden in the velvet glove.

Word History and Origins

Origin of mailed fist¹

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Yet it was far from clear on Friday that Mr. Trump’s instinct for the mailed fist would offer him comparable political rewards in his re-election campaign.

Read more on New York Times

Grapple with it, and it evanesces like smoke clutched in a mailed fist.

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Managing his bureau with what The Times called a “mailed fist,” Byrnes expanded the detective ranks with bright and hungry officers, who soon learned how to conduct surveillance, gather intelligence, and analyze data.

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The “mailed fist policy of the government of Zimbabwe was directed not only against dissidents themselves but against the sea in which the enemy fish swim”, he added.

Read more on The Guardian

Long before he called for banning Muslim immigration and torturing terrorism suspects, Mr. Trump argued for unleashing the New York Police Department to attack social unrest with a mailed fist.

Read more on New York Times