ramrod
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
to exert discipline and authority on.
-
to strike or injure with or as if with a ramrod.
-
to accomplish or put into action by force, intimidation, etc..
to ramrod a bill through Congress.
noun
-
a rod for cleaning the barrel of a rifle or other small firearms
-
a rod for ramming in the charge of a muzzle-loading firearm
Etymology
Origin of ramrod
Vocabulary lists containing ramrod
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.
See Examples For:
At his wedding he stood with ramrod military posture as guests scrawled wishes on his vest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Each picture is composed just so, to accentuate her best features: the long, swanlike neck; the well-toned midriff; the high, strong shoulders; the ramrod posture; and—this feels new—the gaunt cheeks and picture-perfect jawline.
From Slate ● Jan. 31, 2024
Not only that, the heavily tattooed figure in back remained ramrod straight with his arms at his sides, conveniently disguised in dark tinted glasses, a goatee and straw lifeguard hat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2023
“He brought it all: that ramrod posture, the anchor voice, the slicked-back hair. He brought a credibility to the character,” said “Murphy Brown” creator Diane English, in a 2007 interview with the Television Academy Foundation.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 6, 2023
He was ramrod tall, and gaunt, with thinning white hair, bushy black eyebrows, and a mouth that looked as though it had never smiled.
From "The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer
“Rural communities that don’t have political power just get ramrodded over,” English said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2024
State Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, agrees the camera bill is a good one, but says the Legislature ramrodded it through without giving it any thought.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 4, 2019
It energized the near manic pace at which Groves ramrodded the project forward.
From Time Magazine Archive
For eleven years, grumpy Charlie had ramrodded the Bronx Democratic ma chine he inherited from Franklin D. Roosevelt's old friend, Boss Ed Flynn.
From Time Magazine Archive
He slashed costs, ramrodded through a diversification program into electronics, plastics, nuclear reactors, rockets and ultrasonics.
From Time Magazine Archive
“This gives us a say … to help us protect what we worked so hard for instead of just coming in and ramrodding things through,” Klicker said.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 2, 2023
After Lefaucheux was killed three years ago in an auto accident, Dreyfus, his longtime ramrodding chief of production, stepped into his job.
From Time Magazine Archive
In ramrodding an outfit to market, or seeing a plan to completion, all must stand clear of brackish water, wolfsbane and loco weed.
From The Land of Look Behind by Paul Cameron Brown
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
