Sabre-rattling

Alternative forms

• saber-rattling (mostly US)

Origin

From the early 20th century, when an officer would threaten to draw his sabre.

Noun

1. (idiomatic) A flamboyant display of military power as an implied threat that it might be used.
2. (idiomatic, figuratively) Any threat, such as one company threatening another with a lawsuit.

Full definition of sabre-rattling

Adjective

1. Bellicose; threatening military action.
• 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 121:But it excited much discontent in sabre-rattling court circles which regarded Austrophilia as the most un-French of diplomatic perversions.

Anagrams

• saber rattling, saber-rattling