iron hand

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Otherwise, corruption inevitably will reign with an iron hand and a steel boot.

From Slate • May 19, 2022

The Taliban ruled Afghanistan with an iron hand from 1996 to 2001 before being ousted by U.S.-led forces.

From Reuters • Oct. 14, 2021

John Bolton met Thursday with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the nation of 10 million with an iron hand for a quarter century, showing little tolerance to dissent and independent media.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 29, 2019

Even British MPs argued on the defendant's behalf, amid Cold War concerns about how the UK's treatment of radical thinkers might be compared with the iron hand of the Soviet Union.

From BBC • Sep. 5, 2016

It felt as if an iron hand had gripped his heart and was pulling it out between his ribs, so that he pressed his hands to the place and vainly tried to hold it in.

From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman