rough-and-tumble

[ ruhf-uhn-tuhm-buhl ]

adjective

1. characterized by violent, random, disorderly action and struggles:

   a rough-and-tumble fight; He led an adventuresome, rough-and-tumble life.

2. given to such action.

noun

1. rough and unrestrained competition, fighting, struggling, etc.

rough-and-tumble

noun

1. a fight or scuffle without rules

adjective

1. characterized by roughness, disorderliness, and disregard for rules or conventions

Word History and Origins

Origin of rough-and-tumble¹

First recorded in 1785–95

Idioms and Phrases

Disorderly scuffling or infighting, as in She had some reservations about entering the rough and tumble of local politics . This expression originated in the late 1700s in boxing, where it referred to a fight without rules. [Mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

Her swift rise through San Francisco’s rough-and-tumble politics were defined by days in courtrooms representing victims and nights at glitzy political galas.

From BBC

Harris is the biracial daughter of immigrants whose career was forged by the rough-and-tumble Democratic politics of the Bay Area — a place nationally synonymous with West Coast liberalism.

From Los Angeles Times

Harris, a former prosecutor, is a product of the same rough-and-tumble Bay Area politics that produced some of the nation’s most high-profile Democrats, including Newsom, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and former U.S.

From Los Angeles Times

Politically reticent, she has spent years avoiding the rough-and-tumble of the culture wars.

From Los Angeles Times

Kim, who has shown a knack for holding his own in the rough-and-tumble world of New Jersey politics, easily won the Democratic nomination in Tuesday’s primaries.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• disorderly
• rough
• rugged
• strenuous
• tempestuous
• turbulent