brandish
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English braundischen, from Old French brandiss-, stem of brandir (“to flourish a sword”), from Frankish *brandijan, from Frankish *brand (“firebrand; sword”), from Proto-Germanic *brandaz (“fire; flame; sword”), whence Old English brand (“firebrand; torch”); equivalent to brand + -ish. More at brand.
Pronunciation
[edit]Verb
[edit]brandish (third-person singular simple present brandishes, present participle brandishing, simple past and past participle brandished)
- (transitive) To move or swing a weapon back and forth, particularly if demonstrating anger, threat or skill.
- He brandished his sword at the pirates.
- 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 96, column 1:
- Hvng be yͤ heauens vvith black, yield day to night; / Comets importing change of Times and States, / Brandiſh your cryſtall Treſſes in the Skie, / And vvith them ſcourge the bad reuolting Stars, / That haue conſented vnto Henries Death: / King Henry the Fift, too famous to liue long, / England ne're loſt a King of ſo much vvorth.
- 1819, Joseph Rodman Drake, The Culprit Fay:
- the quivering lance which he brandished bright
- 1906 August, Alfred Noyes, “The Highwayman”, in Poems, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC, part 2, stanza IX, page 53:
- Back, he spurred like a madman, shouting a curse to the sky, / With the white road smoking behind him, and his rapier brandished high! / Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat; […]
- (transitive) To bear something with ostentatious show.
- to brandish syllogisms
- 1749, [John Cleland], “[Letter the First]”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], volume I, London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC, page 66:
- Long, however, the young ſpark did not remain, before, giving it [his penis] two or three ſhakes, by way of brandiſhing it, he threw himſelf upon her, […]
- 2011, Jejomar C. Binay, Binay: Blame corruption on modern consumerism, Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation, [1]:
- It sets the stage for cutting corners in our principles just so we can brandish a perceived badge of stature.
Synonyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]to move a weapon
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to bear something with ostentatious show
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See also
[edit]Noun
[edit]brandish (plural brandishes)
- The act of flourishing or waving.
Synonyms
[edit]Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Frankish
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms suffixed with -ish
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ændɪʃ
- Rhymes:English/ændɪʃ/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with collocations
- English nouns
- English countable nouns