pick

sword rattling

See: SABER RATTLING.

No categories:

Source: A Dictionary of American Idioms

'sword rattling' on video

Subscribe to: American Idioms

English Slang

✉

See as well

saber rattling

[saber rattling] or [sword rattling] {n.} A show of military strength usually to frighten; a threat of military force. * /The dictator marched his troops and tanks along the border […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

put to the sword

[put to the sword] {v. phr.}, {literary} To kill (people) in war, especially with a sword. * /The Romans put their enemies to the sword./ * /In some wars captives […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

sword

[sword] See: [AT SWORDS' POINTS], [PUT TO THE SWORD]. A Dictionary of American Idioms

Andrew Warnick

The pen may be stronger than the sword...but I'd rather have a sword in a dark alley. www.english-slang.com

Slang is

"very informal usage in vocabulary and idiom that is characteristically more metaphorical, playful, elliptical, vivid and ephemeral than ordinary language" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary) - learn ~600 slang expressions

An idiom is

an expression "whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements… or from the general grammatical rules of a language"

Recent updates

Robert Reich [1946]

U.S. Labor Secretary There are only two kinds of people who predict the [stock] market on a day-to-day basis. Those who don't […]

get in with

[get in with] {v. phr.} To join up with; begin to associate with; be accepted by. * /He got in with the wrong gang of boys […]

make time

[make time] {v. phr.}, {slang} 1. To be successful in arriving at a designated place in short or good time. * /We're […]

Clarie Sargent, Arizona senatorial candidate

I think it's about time we voted for senators with breasts. After all, we've been voting for boobs long enough.

crack down

[crack down] {v. phr.}, {informal} To enforce laws or rules strictly; require full obedience to a rule. * /After a speeding […]

on the side

[on the side] {adv. phr.}, {informal} 1. In addition to a main thing, amount or quantity; extra. * /He ordered a hamburger […]