as in waving
to put into view in a threatening or excited manner
She brandished a stick at the dog. brandished a petition signed by hundreds of town residents
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Recent Examples of brandishing
After spending years in and out of care facilities, Brian’s life changed in 1993 after he was prosecuted for brandishing a knife.
—
Jan Goldsmith, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Sep. 2025
That includes a disturbing attack in a Regal Cinema parking lot in 2022 involving a man who says he was attacked at random by the same suspect who was brandishing a machete.
—Michael Dorgan, FOXNews.com, 9 Sep. 2025
Four playable characters brandishing various weapons in a promotional screenshot for Borderlands 4.
—Oliver Brandt, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Sep. 2025
The pair is seen crawling through a wildflower field, dancing, and jumping, but also hollering at each other, brandishing knives, and at some point, Lawrence licks a window with zeal.
—Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 5 Sep. 2025
He was initially arrested in that case in March of 2025 for the threat charge and also for brandishing a firearm and carrying a loaded firearm in public.
—Harry Harris, Mercury News, 5 Sep. 2025
They could be seen brandishing signs in support of workers and unions.
—Callum Sutherland, Time, 1 Sep. 2025
Peter was eating ice-cream cake; kids chased one another across the lawn brandishing foam swords and squirt guns.
—Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
Chris Kavanagh booked Everton’s Carlos Alcaraz in their 1-0 defeat against Leeds United on Monday evening for brandishing an imaginary yellow card after being fouled.
—Cerys Jones, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2025
Jan Goldsmith, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Sep. 2025
That includes a disturbing attack in a Regal Cinema parking lot in 2022 involving a man who says he was attacked at random by the same suspect who was brandishing a machete.
—Michael Dorgan, FOXNews.com, 9 Sep. 2025
Four playable characters brandishing various weapons in a promotional screenshot for Borderlands 4.
—Oliver Brandt, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Sep. 2025
The pair is seen crawling through a wildflower field, dancing, and jumping, but also hollering at each other, brandishing knives, and at some point, Lawrence licks a window with zeal.
—Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 5 Sep. 2025
He was initially arrested in that case in March of 2025 for the threat charge and also for brandishing a firearm and carrying a loaded firearm in public.
—Harry Harris, Mercury News, 5 Sep. 2025
They could be seen brandishing signs in support of workers and unions.
—Callum Sutherland, Time, 1 Sep. 2025
Peter was eating ice-cream cake; kids chased one another across the lawn brandishing foam swords and squirt guns.
—Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
Chris Kavanagh booked Everton’s Carlos Alcaraz in their 1-0 defeat against Leeds United on Monday evening for brandishing an imaginary yellow card after being fouled.
—Cerys Jones, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brandishing
Verb
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There are already around 10,000 Fenerbahce diehards filling the stadium with noise some 90 minutes before kick off, waving humungous flags and singing along to dodgy Euro pop, at a time when the Etihad will only just be opening its doors to a smattering of eager fans.—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
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The humanoid displays visual recognition capabilities during this instance, reacting to a wave by waving back and performing human-like locomotion by imitating humans.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Bungie took the rare step of doing an emergency buff live patch last night after announcing it in the TWAB to try to fix/improve The Portal and loot systems.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
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This is not Chiu, who enthusiastically takes part in the process, sometimes even announcing purchases for the Crocker on social media.—
Graham Womack,
Sacbee.com,
13 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Brandishing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brandishing. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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