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.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament who led Tehran's delegation in Islamabad, sounded unfazed by Trump's sabre-rattling in a statement upon his return home.
From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2026
“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
Many in Taiwan say they are accustomed to decades of sabre-rattling and see little cause for alarm.
From Reuters ● Aug. 10, 2022
In his view, today’s extraordinary nuclear challenges — deteriorating arsenals, ongoing proliferation and the rebirth of sabre-rattling nuclear diplomacy — were preventable.
From Nature ● Oct. 14, 2018
"It is only a bluff," he declared, "like so many we have had for the last thirty years; we get them regularly every spring and summer; just bullying and sabre-rattling."
From Clerambault The Story of an Independent Spirit During the War by Rolland, Romain
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.
