Make Your Point > Archived Issues > BRANDISH

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explore the archives: Brandish comes from an Old French word meaning "to flourish a sword"--which means, of course, to wave your sword around in the air so you can show off how you're so threatening or so victorious. Speaking of swords: Acc_____es are awards or honors, signifying that you've been figuratively tapped on the shoulder with a ceremonial sword. Something Da____ean is so dangerous that it's like sitting under a sword hanging up by a single hair. And to p___y is to ward off a sword's thrust, or to skillfully avoid or deflect anything, such as an annoying question. make your point with... "BRANDISH" To brandish something, such as a sword or other weapon, is to hold it up in the air and wave it around, often because you want people to feel threatened. More generally, to brandish something is to display it or show it off, as if you're waving it around in the air. To brandish can also mean to gleam, to glitter, to flash. Pronunciation: BRAN dish Part of speech: Verb. It’s both transitive (you brandish things, meaning you show them off)  and intransitive (things brandish on their own, meaning they shine or glitter). Other forms: brandished, brandishing How to use it: Talk about animals brandishing their claws, their tentacles, their plumage, etc. And talk about people brandishing weapons, signs, tools, prizes and honors, slogans and other words, talents and abilities, advantages and gifts, promises and threats, their rights and guarantees, their authority and popularity, and so on. You can brandish something at someone, but most of the time you simply brandish something. The intransitive verb is rare: talk about swords and other gleaming objects that brandish, meaning they sparkle or flash with light. examples: The girls were the first to drag their canoe ashore, shouting, chanting, and brandishing their paddles. In the auditorium, the class body president mounted the stage, taking his time, waving at the first row, brandishing his popularity. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "brandish" means when you can explain it without saying "flourish" or "display." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) (does something that reveals his or her ability or advantage), as if brandishing the (ability or advantage)." Example: "Jason lopes toward the hoop with three enormous strides of his long legs, as if brandishing the advantage." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Our game this month is called "Cousins or Strangers?" Consider two pairs of similar-looking words, and figure out which pair are truly related, like cousins, and which pair are unrelated, like strangers. "Related," of course, is a relative concept (ha ha). We're interested in closeness: "compute" and "computer" are sisters, or variations of the same word; "vision" and "video" are cousins, sharing the same Latin root; but "compute" and "video" are strangers. From our previous issue: Pair A: VICE and ADVICE. These are the strangers, though both come from Latin words. "Vice" comes from vitium, "an offense or an imperfection." But "advice" is from videre, "to see," which reveals that giving advice is basically telling people how you see things. (We probably got from videre to "advice" through either of these two phrases: Vulgar Latin for "in my view," "mi est visum," or Old French for "it seems to me," "ço m'est à vis.") Pair B: MORTAL and MORTGAGE. These are the cousins, both from the Latin mori, "to die." A mortgage is literally a "dead pledge," not because you'll be paying off your mortgage until you die, but because the deal is "dead" or over when you either pay it all off or you fail to make the payments. Ready to check out two more pairs? Remember, one pair will be cousins; the other, strangers. Which is which? Pair A: MALE and FEMALE Pair B: SEASON (FOR FOOD) and SEASON (OF THE YEAR) review today's word: 1. One opposite of BRANDISH is A. CONCEAL B. DEFER C. EXACT 2. Brandishing their right to remain silent, _____. A. the officer calmly informed the protesters as he handcuffed them B. the protesters refused to say a word until their lawyers had arrived C. the protesters let loose a flood of angry accusations and explanations Answers are below. a final word: To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. A 2. B