sabre-rattling


Also found in: Idioms, Wikipedia.

sabre-rattling

n, adj
(Military) informal seeking to intimidate by an aggressive display of military power
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
References in periodicals archive ?
Pressure from the US demanded sabre-rattling and a showdown with the country they regard as a rogue state.
Patient international diplomacy, not sabre-rattling, is the key to resolving this crisis swiftly and peacefully.
Iran, like Iraq, is more complicated than the sabre-rattling White House and Downing Street would like you to know.
Bush is determined to drag Syria and Iran into it and is now sabre-rattling again in Cuba in what looks like a world oil-control plot by the US.
The statement said President Buhari will make his presence at the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) count for Nigeria, and no scare-mongering or sabre-rattling will detract from the outing.
Sabre-rattling Tories condemning Jeremy Corbyn's calls for calm should be challenged, after he was proved right about Iraq, Libya and Syria.
LOC: Amid relentless sabre-rattling from New Delhi, army chief has said that though Pakistan is a peace loving country, it will not be intimidated and any misadventure will be given a befitting response.
Amid relentless sabre-rattling from New Delhi, the army chief has said that though Pakistan is a peace-loving country, it will not be intimidated and any
Rawalpindi -- Amid relentless sabre-rattling from New Delhi, Army Chief has said that though Pakistan is a peace loving country, it will not be intimidated and any misadventure will be given a befitting response.
Summary: New Delhi [India], Mar 08 (ANI): Senior leader of the Congress party, Renuka Chowdhury, on Thursday termed the rift between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its coalition partner Telugu Desam Party (TDP) as 'sabre-rattling', adding that if the TDP wanted they would have pulled out of the alliance.
FROM watching a team of sabre-rattling horsemen to bouncing on Yorkshire's largest indoor inflatable, we've found five fun and slightly quirky summer activities in and around our corner of Yorkshire for families with children.