iron hand
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English
[edit]Noun
[edit]iron hand (plural iron hands)
- (figuratively) Firmness, inflexibility, sternness.
- 1975 December 20, “"Cuckoo's Nest" Still a Valid Statement of the Non-conformist's Struggles”, in Gay Community News, volume 3, number 25, page 13:
- The mental hospital setting is merely a symbol for the world, and in it the powers that be rule with an iron hand.
- 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, page 41:
- Reverend Harris ran Clerkebury with an iron hand and an abiding sense of fairness.