knock-down-drag-out

or knock-down, drag-out

[ nok-doun-drag-out ]

adjective

1. marked by unrelenting violence:

   a knock-down-drag-out fight.

Word History and Origins

Origin of knock-down-drag-out¹

1820–30; adj. use of verb phrases knock down and drag out

Example Sentences

Confronting the country’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who regularly uses his bully pulpit to disparage the press, the media in Mexico has become deeply polarized, consumed much of the time by a knock-down-drag-out fight with the most powerful man in the country.

From New York Times

In this case, even with a strong factual basis for the claims against Trump and his co-defendants, James can expect a knock-down-drag-out fight—her predecessors spent a dozen years litigating against AIG’s Greenberg before settling for $9.9 million.

From Slate

Her theatrical, knock-down-drag-out style is hardly atypical in the world of criminal defense, but it has attracted attention at a time when #MeToo-era cases are reaching trial, as she has urged jurors to be skeptical of women who have testified, often through tears, about being sexually abused.

From New York Times

“Biden has little choice but to nominate one of the radical judges supported by the far left-wing of his party. He and the Democratic leadership desperately need a knock-down-drag-out fight with the GOP in order to rile up their base enough to turn out in November,” he predicts.

From Washington Times

This predictably escalates into a knock-down-drag-out fight when the two are alone together.

From New York Times

Related Words

• altercation
• bickering
• brawl
• brouhaha
• feud
• flap
• fray
• free-for-all
• melee
• quarrel
• riot
• scuffle
• squabble
• tumult
• uproar