transitive verb

• Wave or flourish (something, especially a weapon) as a threat or in anger or excitement.

  ‘a man leaped out brandishing a knife’

  More example sentences

  • ‘This was soon displaced by another stereotype, a bearded guerilla fighter brandishing an automatic weapon.’
  • ‘The shopkeeper was assaulted when four youths entered his shop brandishing the weapons and stole a sum of money.’
  • ‘Since when did citizens brandishing weapons have the right to pull over other citizens?’
  • ‘The raider was brandishing a weapon which gardai have refused to be more specific about.’
  • ‘So, at the top of the stairs I pointed out to him that he was brandishing a dangerous weapon and he could hurt someone.’
  • ‘The knifeman claimed throughout that he also had a firearm and brandished a weapon at police from under a blanket.’
  • ‘Motorists were also scared as cars were being struck by the dangerous weapons brandished by the pair.’
  • ‘There was no order to brandish weapons, push journalists around and fire into the air.’
  • ‘Robbers openly brandished weapons as they intimidated marketers and stole goods and money.’
  • ‘Suddenly, a tall and stately golden figure saw us and brandished his weapon menacingly.’
  • ‘He brandished a weapon and began firing on police as he ran across the street.’
  • ‘She also said the teens rode on two bikes and forced her to pull over as one brandished the weapon.’
  • ‘No weapon was brandished nor was any word spoken to suggest that there was a weapon.’
  • ‘The students were apprehended by police on Tuesday evening in London Road, where one of them was found to be brandishing a toy gun.’
  • ‘Armed police stormed a house in Rotherham following reports of a man walking the streets brandishing a pistol.’
  • ‘Two armed robbers brandishing sawn-off shotguns then burst through the debris to threaten staff inside.’
  • ‘Police have raided the home of an elderly couple following reports of a man brandishing a sawn-off shotgun.’
  • ‘Two masked men, one brandishing a sawn-off shotgun and the other a wrench, raided a village store.’
  • ‘He picked up a big stone and hurled it at me with his left hand, and then awaited me, brandishing his sword.’

  Synonyms

  flourish, wave, shake, wield, raise, hold aloft

  View synonyms