brandish

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“
They brandish the magic words around like freedom, liberty, democracy, USA and the bad words like Russia, Putin, appeasement, cowardice, etc.

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Definitions (12)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. transitive verb To wave or flourish (a weapon, for example) menacingly.
  2. transitive verb To display ostentatiously. See Synonyms at flourish.
  3. noun A menacing or defiant wave or flourish.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (4)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (3)

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Examples (50)

  • Olympic skeptics are admonished for such petty concerns by supporters who brandish the words of Chicago's visionary urban planner Daniel Burnham: "Make no little plans." —  Reason Magazine - All Reason Articles from the Past Year: Page 1
  • Simunic had a let-off at the start of the second half after tripping Rooney on the edge of the area but referee Lubos Michel was left with no option but to finally brandish a red when Robert Kovac left Joe Cole reeling with a vicious challenge from behind soon afterwards. —  TODAYonline
  • One of Jimmy Hart's trademarks is the megaphone he'd always brandish to hype up his wrestler.
  • They brandish the magic words around like freedom, liberty, democracy, USA and the bad words like Russia, Putin, appeasement, cowardice, etc. —  digg.com: Stories / Popular
  • It's time to brandish it like a Tech Nine in an action flick. —  Rate Your Students
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This word has been looked up 172 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

Used in the same contextWord Family

brandish:   brandished ·  brandishing ·  brandishes
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English brandissen, from Old French brandir, brandiss-, from brand, sword, of Germanic origin; see gwher- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English braundishen, braundisen, from Old French brandiss-, stem of certain parts of brandir, French brandir (=Provencal Portuguese brandir = Spanish blandir = Italian brandire), brandish, from brand, etc., a sword: see brand.
  2. from brandish, v.
 

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/ˈbrændɪʃ/
by American Heritage

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