sabre-rattling
Britishnoun
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.
“Geographically, New Zealand is far from the war in Europe, the tinder-box that is the Middle East, the sabre-rattling in the South China Sea, and the domestic politics in the U.S.A.,”
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2025
Tanks pounded targets and fighter jets roared overhead on Wednesday as Taiwan's military carried out its latest combat drills after weeks of sabre-rattling by giant neighbour China.
From Reuters ● Sep. 7, 2022
Eugene Delgaudio, a former county supervisor in Loudoun County, Virginia, thinks Mr Putin's threats are nothing more than "sabre-rattling".
From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2022
If it does, then that, surely, will be in large part thanks to your endless sabre-rattling.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 16, 2019
To me he represents the ignominious pacifist, whereas to him I represent the sabre-rattling jingo.
From Nobody's Man by Oppenheim, E. Phillips (Edward Phillips)
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.
