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bare-knuckle

or bare-knuck·led

[ bair-nuhk-uhl ]

adjective

  1. (of a boxer) wearing no boxing gloves:

    These are bare-knuckle kids who need to learn a higher level of boxing.

  2. (of a boxing match or other fight) without gloves:

    a bare-knuckle brawl.

  3. without regard for rules or niceties; rough-and-tumble:

    a bare-knuckle approach to judicial reform.



adverb

  1. without boxing gloves:

    He’s a scrappy guy who likes to fight bare-knuckle.

  2. in a manner that bypasses rules and niceties:

    If we have to take on these land developers bare-knuckle, we will.

bare-knuckle

adjective

  1. without boxing gloves

    a bare-knuckle fight

  2. aggressive and without reservations

    a bare-knuckle confrontation

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of bare-knuckle1

First recorded in 1880–85; bare 1 + knuckle
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Example Sentences

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, my third book, changed my life and put me on bare-knuckle terms with my abilities.

How could it be that this word, and not “what” or “why,” has caused a bare-knuckle brawl at such a stratospheric social level?

After the bare-knuckle brawl Ben Quayle has faced, however, his brother may think twice about following his lead.

A solitary grey line of broken earth ran like a mole burrow up the bare knuckle and vanished over the top.

If to put over cold pies, make it of a small bare knuckle of veal, or of a scrag of mutton.

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bare infinitivebarelegged