bare-knuckle
Americanadjective
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(of a boxer) wearing no boxing gloves.
These are bare-knuckle kids who need to learn a higher level of boxing.
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(of a boxing match or other fight) without gloves.
a bare-knuckle brawl.
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without regard for rules or niceties; rough-and-tumble.
a bare-knuckle approach to judicial reform.
adverb
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without boxing gloves.
He’s a scrappy guy who likes to fight bare-knuckle.
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in a manner that bypasses rules and niceties.
If we have to take on these land developers bare-knuckle, we will.
adjective
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without boxing gloves
a bare-knuckle fight
-
aggressive and without reservations
a bare-knuckle confrontation
Etymology
Origin of bare-knuckle
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.
Barger referenced a former state Assembly speaker known for bare-knuckle tactics, which she said were needed now in the Capitol.
From Los Angeles Times
How safe is bare-knuckle boxing as it fights for mainstream appeal?
From BBC
It was a game that threw up dozens of cameos to ponder, not just the creation and execution of the Scotland tries but the bare-knuckle stuff they delivered in defence.
From BBC
Greg Norman knows life would have been simpler if he hadn’t willingly placed himself at the center of the bare-knuckle brawl that plunged professional golf into chaos.
It was, in the minds of many, the closest thing to bare-knuckle street fighting.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
