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might makes right
Idioms and Phrases
Superior strength can enforce one's will or dictate justice, as in The generals dismissed the parliament and imprisoned the premier—might makes right in that country , or The big boys wouldn't let the little ones use the basketball, a case of might makes right . This expression was first recorded in English about 1327.Example Sentences
They preach that might makes right.
That is something that we are trying to build differently than China—we’re trying to say, Hey, look, we’re not a nation that is going to try to bully other nations and use the “Might Makes Right†type of approach to foreign policy.
Trump wants to take Greenland from Denmark, make Canada the 51st state and retake the Panama Canal, threats reflecting his view that might makes right.
"Might makes right" may start in controlling other people's uteruses, but swiftly leads to trying to control their minds.
In a post on X, Republican House candidate Brandon Gill of Texas lamented what he viewed as “raw power†rather than an “equally applied legal system†in the charges being brought against Trump: “Might makes right,†he said.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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