fisticuffs
English
WOTD – 8 September 2008
Noun
fisticuffs pl (plural only)
- plural of fisticuff
- (plural only, informal) An impromptu fight with the fists, usually between only two people.
- 1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque, and Other Papers, "Virginibus Puerisque,"
- People who share a cell in the Basti[l]le […] if they do not immediately fall to fisticuffs, will find some possible ground of compromise.
- 1890, Edmondo de Amicis translated by Caroline Tilton, Holland and Its People, Chapter XII
- […] , his head all scarred with the sticks and fisticuffs which he had got in the taverns at Utrecht, […]
- 1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque, and Other Papers, "Virginibus Puerisque,"
- (plural only, sports, dated) Bare-knuckled boxing, a form of boxing done without boxing gloves or similar padding.
- 1870, Charles Dicken, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Chapter XVII
- In his college days of athletic exercises, Mr. Crisparkle had known professors of the Noble Art of fisticuffs, […]
- 1870, Charles Dicken, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Chapter XVII
Synonyms
- (informal: fight): brawl, fight, fist-fight, punch-up
- (bare-knuckled boxing): prizefighting
Related terms
Translations
informal: a fight with the fists
bare-knuckled boxing
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