fisticuff
Americannoun
-
a cuff or blow with the fist.
-
fisticuffs, combat with the fists.
verb (used with or without object)
Other Word Forms
- fisticuffer noun
Etymology
Origin of fisticuff
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.
It was not often that my siblings had true fights, but when they did, they were monster, one-on-one fisticuff affairs, and Helen had picked the Mount Everest of fighters.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
He was not without skill at fisticuff, was Hackley.
From Captivating Mary Carstairs by Crosby, Raymond Moreau
Ireland and Scotland were about to set to; Erin was going to fisticuff Gajothel.
From The Man Who Laughs by Hugo, Victor
In no account of this great conflict is any precision observed concerning the pell-mell and fisticuff parts of it.
From Mary Anerley : a Yorkshire Tale by Blackmore, R. D. (Richard Doddridge)
How many men are like the clenched fist—pugnacious, disputatious, quarrelsome, always spoiling for a fight; a verbal fisticuff, if not a physical one, is their delight.
From The Last Harvest by Burroughs, John
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.
