Idioms

rattle sabers

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rattle sabers

To make aggressive, blustering, and typically empty threats. I'd like to think that the country's threats of nuclear extermination are just them rattling sabers, but I'm not too sure anymore. The boss just likes to rattle sabers every now and then to make herself feel powerful.
See also: rattle, saber
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

rattle sabres

threaten to take aggressive action.
See also: rattle, sabre
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
See also:
References in periodicals archive
China likes to rattle sabers over the island it views as a breakaway province, periodically threatening to crush Taiwan with its overwhelmingly superior military forces.
can rattle sabers well enough, but stop at the brink when appropriate--machismo doesn't have to rule.
Although Sir John is necessarily aware of the heated historiographical debates that aspects of his subject have aroused in recent decades, he seems reluctant to rattle sabers himself, and his judicious conclusions often take the form of passing asides.
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