Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

sabre-rattle

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.85 in modern English

Syllables: sabre-rat-tle
IPA

13

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To threaten a big battle or war.

Example Sentences

"Then you speak of "the President's spread-eagle patriotism," his delight in "barnyard language," his "readiness to sabre-rattle at the ripple of a flag,""
"The Chinese and the Russians sabre-rattle like mad against each other, but they both seem to be super-practical countries in that they trade with each other when they need to."
"Do I want to change group norms (say to get higher output, or acceptance of change) or just sabre-rattle?"
"If I go in all confident, all don't-even-think-of-fucking-with-me, they'll rabble-rouse and sabre-rattle to beat the band."

Etymology

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

Inflected Forms

sabre-rattles (present, singular) sabre-rattling (participle, present) sabre-rattled (participle, past) sabre-rattled (past) sabre rattle (alternative) saber-rattle (alternative) saber rattle (alternative) rattle the sabre (alternative) rattle the saber (alternative) rattle a sabre (alternative) rattle a saber (alternative) rattle one's sabre (alternative)

Phrases

saber rattling saber-rattling sabre rattling sabre-rattling

Frequently Paired Words

saber rattling saber-rattling sabre rattling sabre-rattling

Questions

What does sabre-rattle mean?: To threaten a big battle or war.
Where does sabre-rattle come from?: From the early 20th century, when an officer would threaten to draw his sabre.

How to pronounce sabre-rattle

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