jawboning

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jawboning

1. present participle and gerund of jawbone

jawboning (usually uncountable, plural jawbonings)

1. Persistent persuasive talk, particularly (politics, economics) talk that includes implied threats of punitive action, such as tighter government regulation.

   Hypernym: persuasion

   Coordinate term: moral suasion

   • 1991, Terrence E. Cook, The Great Alternatives of Social Thought, page 194:

     Or the merely verbal pressure of jawbonings by prominent people may try to silence a certain point of view.