How to Use brandish in a Sentence

brandish

verb
Definition of brandishnext
Synonyms for brandishnext
  • She brandished a stick at the dog.
  • I could see that he was brandishing a knife.
  • The gunman brandished the weapon, shot the victim and fled on foot.
    — Tony Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2023
  • The student didn't brandish the weapon or take it out of his pocket where it was found.
    — Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press, 3 Dec. 2021
  • The men stormed up the steps, chanting the name of a Hindu god and brandishing knives, chains, iron bars and pieces of pipe.
    — New York Times, 5 Mar. 2020
  • No weapons were brandished and no one was injured, deputies said.
    — Madeline Mitchell, Cincinnati.com, 27 Feb. 2020
  • Netanyahu has been brandishing Amalek in the wake of the Hamas attack.
    — Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2023
  • The office said that the video showed Munoz emerge from a house and brandish the knife in a threatening manner.
    — Fox News, 14 Sep. 2020
  • The footage shows the officer pulling on the door handle on the driver’s side and then brandishing a gun.
    — Rayna Reid Rayford, Essence, 12 Apr. 2024
  • Morant, apparently at a night club, brandished what looked like a gun in the video.
    — oregonlive, 4 Mar. 2023
  • Lopez is the one who brandished a hatchet or axe and hit the victim, according to court records.
    — Connor Van Ligten, azcentral, 29 Apr. 2020
  • On the left, a figure of a Tusken Raider is brandishing a weapon known as a gaffi stick, while on the right is a figure of a Jawa, a scavenger of the desert.
    — Katherine Clarke, WSJ, 22 Jan. 2020
  • In other words, the Kremlin leader got to brandish his nukes.
    — Nathan Hodge, CNN, 19 Feb. 2022
  • The suspect hit the victim with a stick, brandished a firearm at him and stole the keys to the tow truck before driving away from the scene in his own car, police said.
    — Jason Green, The Mercury News, 11 Apr. 2024
  • The man then walked to the front wearing a white skull mask and brandishing a firearm, and demanded the clerk hand over the money in the cash register.
    — Ricardo Delgado, San Antonio Express-News, 3 Jan. 2024
  • For the first five episodes, Thomas has been depicted as a quiet man who knows just the right time to share a pearl of wisdom — or brandish his gun.
    — Lynette Rice, EW.com, 30 Jan. 2022
  • Many of the activists wore yellow and brandished signs in the movement's signature hue.
    — Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 25 Sep. 2023
  • Elliott brandished her nearby video camera (all the TMZ tour guides have them in the event of in-the-wild encounters) and aimed it out the window.
    — Adam Tschorn, Los Angeles Times, 16 Nov. 2023
  • The boys were almost home when a man wearing a mask and brandishing a revolver stepped out of the darkness and ordered them to lay in a ditch.
    — Johnny Dodd, Peoplemag, 19 Oct. 2023
  • The dozen-odd agents brandished their pistols and credentials.
    — Elliot Ackerman, WIRED, 12 Feb. 2024
  • So far, crews brandishing chain saws and handsaws have cleared 120 square miles over the past three years, with a similar area yet to be razed.
    — Katharine Houreld, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2024
  • The footage showed a man in dark glasses and with a blue scarf covering his head brandishing a knife, as people screamed for help.
    — John Leicester, Anchorage Daily News, 8 June 2023
  • The man, not authorized to be on the property, brandished a weapon when asked to show his hands, the city of Wayne Police Department said at the time.
    — Detroit Free Press, 19 July 2023
  • The man in Utah made threats online in March, was visited by law enforcement, and then did it again, this time brandished a gun.
    — CBS News, 13 Aug. 2023
  • In the summer of 1975, a mob of white beachgoers, brandishing pipes and sticks, chased a group of Black bible salesmen off a South Boston beach.
    — Mike Damiano, BostonGlobe.com, 22 July 2023
  • Video footage showed Holland brandishing a silver and black handgun, pointing it at the 14-year-old boy’s head and pulling the trigger.
    — Jasmine Hilton, Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2024
  • Others have hit the streets, selling flowers and brandishing squeegees to wash car windows.
    — Miriam Jordan, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2024
  • During an argument over a collision, the suspect brandished a firearm at the victim, then fled in a Lexus sedan.
    — Anne Gelhaus, The Mercury News, 26 Mar. 2024
  • The victim, who was not named in court documents, was exiting his car when the suspect Romel Taylor, brandished the weapon.
    — Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 13 Nov. 2023
  • The robbers have brandished multiple weapons in five robberies, the first on Nov. 4 and the most recent on Dec. 11, according to police.
    — Kieran Nicholson, The Denver Post, 16 Dec. 2019

Some of 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.

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