ramrod

[ram-rod] /ˈræmˌrɒd/
noun
1.
a rod for ramming down the charge of a muzzleloading firearm.
2.
a cleaning rod for the barrel of a firearm.
3.
a strict disciplinarian; martinet.
verb (used with object), ramrodded, ramrodding.
4.
to exert discipline and authority on.
5.
to strike or injure with or as if with a ramrod.
6.
to accomplish or put into action by force, intimidation, etc.:
to ramrod a bill through Congress.
Origin
1750-60; ram1 + rod
Examples from the web for ramrod
  • There's a difference between a good healthy posture and an uptight ramrod.
  • We are sick and tired of people using the climate to ramrod more taxes down our throats.
  • Her body is perfectly balanced, she holds herself straight, and yet in nothing suggests a ramrod.
  • The army lolls and longs for the shade, of which some get a hand's breadth, from a shelter tent stuck upon a ramrod.
  • Maybe it's the top-gun lingo and ramrod driving posture.
  • She stands ramrod straight and beautiful, her hair pulled back in a bun.
  • He sketched a hasty portrait of a wasted crone with a scornful grimace and a ramrod spine.
  • As she sings, her lean, serpentine body turns ramrod stiff and her voice takes on a new visceral charge.
  • Of average height, stout of build, he walked with feet turned out and back straight as a ramrod.
  • If a ramrod makes a mistake, he can't fix it because the shot is over in less than a thousandth of a second.
British Dictionary definitions for ramrod

ramrod

/ˈræmˌrɒd/
noun
1.
a rod for cleaning the barrel of a rifle or other small firearms
2.
a rod for ramming in the charge of a muzzle-loading firearm
Word Origin and History for ramrod
n.

1757, literally "a rod used in ramming" (the charge of a gun), from ram (v.) + rod. Used figuratively for straightness or stiffness from 1939, also figuratively for formality, primness (ramroddy is in Century Dictionary, 1902). The verb is 1948, from the noun. Related: Ramrodded; ramrodding.