Adjacent Words

browbeat definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: be bossy towards; "Her big brother always bullied her when she was young" [syn: strong-arm, bully, browbeat, bullyrag, ballyrag, boss around, hector, push around]
2: discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner; intimidate [syn: browbeat, bully, swagger]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (browbeat; browbeaten or -beat; -beating) Date: 1581 to intimidate or disconcert by a stern manner or arrogant speech ; bully Synonyms: see intimidate

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. (past -beat; past part. -beaten) intimidate with stern looks and words. Derivatives: browbeater n.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Browbeat Brow"beat`, v. t. [imp. Browbeat; p. p. Browbeaten; p. pr. & vb. n. Browbeating.] To depress or bear down with haughty, stern looks, or with arrogant speech and dogmatic assertions; to abash or disconcert by impudent or abusive words or looks; to bully; as, to browbeat witnesses. My grandfather was not a man to be browbeaten. --W. Irving.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Browbeat Brow"beat`, v. t. [imp. Browbeat; p. p. Browbeaten; p. pr. & vb. n. Browbeating.] To depress or bear down with haughty, stern looks, or with arrogant speech and dogmatic assertions; to abash or disconcert by impudent or abusive words or looks; to bully; as, to browbeat witnesses. My grandfather was not a man to be browbeaten. --W. Irving.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(browbeats, browbeating, browbeaten) Note: The form 'browbeat' is used in the present tense and is also the past tense. If someone tries to browbeat you, they try to force you to do what they want. ...attempts to deceive, con, or browbeat the voters... When I backed out of the 100 metres, an older kid tried to browbeat me into it. VERB: V n, V n into n • browbeaten ...the browbeaten employees. ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. Bully, overbear, beat down, treat insolently.

Moby Thesaurus

badger, beat down, bludgeon, bluster, bluster out of, bounce, break, bulldoze, bully, bullyrag, castrate, clamp down on, coerce, compel, cow, daunt, demoralize, despotize, discourage, dominate, domineer, domineer over, dragoon, enslave, frighten, grind, grind down, harass, hassle, hector, henpeck, huff, intimidate, keep down, keep under, lord it over, nag, oppress, overawe, overbear, overmaster, override, press heavy on, repress, ride over, ride roughshod over, subjugate, suppress, systematically terrorize, terrorize, threaten, trample down, trample upon, tread down, tread upon, tyrannize, tyrannize over, unman, walk all over, walk over, weigh heavy on