Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun plural A fistfight.
- noun plural The activity of fighting with the fists.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Plural form of
fisticuff . - noun plurale tantum, informal An
impromptu fight with the fists, usually between only two people. - noun plurale tantum, sports, dated
Bare -knuckled boxing , a form of boxing done without boxinggloves or similar padding.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun fighting with the fists
- noun a fight with bare fists
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Though Holmes was known to engage in fisticuffs from time to time, it is still odd and jarring that those occasional episodes, at least in the trailers I have seen, have been made the focus of the film.
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Therefore, I'm positive that if we ever engaged in fisticuffs, I would beat that fucking dwarf like a rented mule.
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Jack is all: talk to the hand, and they're driven to very bloody fisticuffs, which is only broken up by Juliet, who announces that she has changed her mind, as is a woman's prerogative: She thinks Jack is right.
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Jack is all: talk to the hand, and they're driven to very bloody fisticuffs, which is only broken up by Juliet, who announces that she has changed her mind, as is a woman's prerogative: She thinks Jack is right.
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` ` We like Ricky's competitive spirit for sure, but we definitely don't need him getting into any kind of fisticuffs, '' Nolan said.
USATODAY.com 2007
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There is plenty of time down the line to have the kind of fisticuffs that sometimes come with these debates, as the date of the elections comes closer.
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We try, as far as possible, to stick to the topic; we don't slag each other off anyone who attempts 'fisticuffs' on this blog will have Solti the ginger cat to deal with, which I don't recommend!
Wagnerama Jessica 2005
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The rhetorical trick of belittling the matter by speaking of it as "fisticuffs" will not pass in this discussion.
Woman and the Republic — a Survey of the Woman-Suffrage Movement in the United States and a Discussion of the Claims and Arguments of Its Foremost Advocates Helen Kendrick Johnson 1880
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As the MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE said of the imbroglio (while earning bonus points for use of the term "fisticuffs"):
SPORTSbyBROOKS 2009
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She actually knows how to use "fisticuffs" in a sentence without sounding smug.
Maggie's Farm 2008
yarb commented on the word fisticuffs
Opinions are nearly balanced; the disputants are nearly in a passion; as argument weakens, invective grows stronger; they get from bad to worse; over goes the table, and up jump they to fisty-cuffs.
- Lesage, The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane, tr. Smollett, bk 8 ch. 9
October 7, 2008