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
"A lot of it was sabre-rattling," said one person aware of loyalist thinking.
From BBC • Nov. 5, 2022
Many in Taiwan say they are accustomed to decades of sabre-rattling and see little cause for alarm.
From Reuters • Aug. 10, 2022
If it does, then that, surely, will be in large part thanks to your endless sabre-rattling.
From The Guardian • Sep. 16, 2019
"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.
