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Often when we encounter the word brandish in print, it is followed by a word for a weapon, such as knife or handgun. That’s appropriate given the word’s etymology: it is a descendant of the Middle English braundisshen, which comes from the Anglo-French brant or braund, a word of Germanic origin meaning “sword.” Nowadays you can brandish things other than weapons, however. The figurative usage of brandish rose alongside its earliest literal usage in the 14th century. When you brandish something that isn’t a weapon (such as a sign or a letter), you are in effect waving it in someone’s face so that it cannot be overlooked.
Examples of brandish in a Sentence
Sarah Kohrs and Neil Thorne, TIME, 21 May 2024
Fans brandished dozens of flags emblazoned with his name.
—Rory Smith, New York Times, 19 May 2024
When a father presents their child to the world, the world fawns and coos, but when a director presents their movies to the world, everyone seems to brandish their collective monocle and start panning for errors and omissions.
—Remy Blumenfeld, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 May 2024
The man survived his wounds and was arrested on suspicion of brandishing a deadly weapon while resisting arrest and obstructing an officer, sheriff’s officials said.
—Caleb Lunetta, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 May 2024
The incident ended with the officer brandishing a gun at Maddrey.
—Sergio Hernandez, ProPublica, 9 May 2024
The incident occurred after multiple people called 911 around 11:35 a.m. to report a man brandishing a handgun along Mission Road near Old River Road, Shebloski said.
—Caleb Lunetta, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 May 2024
Colman Domingo brandishing a bouquet of calla lilies on the Met Gala red carpet.
—Nick Remsen, Vogue, 7 May 2024
The Center for Homeland Defense and Security maintains an online public database showing all U.S. instances of K-12 schools when a gun is brandished, fired, or a bullet hits school property.
—Cleo Krejci, Journal Sentinel, 1 May 2024
Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 20 Oct. 2010
Police have said robbers wearing hooded sweatshirts and masks entered the stores in groups ranging from one to five and brandish firearms while demanding money and products from clerks.
—Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Dec. 2023
Many brandish flags and banners for their team of choice, and a group of young women call to every driver by their first name, waving and jumping with unbridled enthusiasm.
—Caleb Miller, Car and Driver, 12 June 2023
Renfield joins a support group, brandishes a self-help book like a protective crucifix and, during a makeover montage, swaps his gothic rags for khakis.
—Amy Nicholson, wsj.com, 13 Apr. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'brandish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near brandish
Cite this Entry
“Brandish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brandish. Accessed 28 May. 2024.
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