browbeat
pronunciation
How to pronounce browbeat in British English:
UK [ˈbraʊbi:t]
How to pronounce browbeat in American English:
US [ˈbraʊˌbit]
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- Verb:
- be bossy towards
- discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner; intimidate
Word Origin
- browbeat (v.)
- "to bully," originally "to bear down with stern or arrogant looks," 1580s, from brow + beat (v.). [I]t appears from the earliest quotations ... that the brow in question was that of the beater, not of the beaten party; but it is not evident whether the meaning was 'to beat with one's (frowning) brows,' or 'to beat (?lower) one's brows at.' [OED] Related: Browbeaten; browbeating.
Example
- 1. In 2008 china reportedly browbeat exxonmobil and bp into stopping exploration in vietnamese waters .
- 2. In 1985 the u.s. browbeat japan at the plaza accord meetings into letting the yen rise .
- 3. The soldierly approach dates from napoleonic times , when such forces browbeat conquered peasants into accepting the physical and symbolic power of the french state .
- 4. But it is the responsibility of doctors to inform patients and allow them to make a decision based on this knowledge , not browbeat them into submission .
- 5. Chapter 5 attempts to explain when to use object oriented programming . I thought that was an interesting chapter because it seems to me that colleges browbeat their students into thinking they should use oop for everything .