bare-knuckle

American  

[bair-nuhk-uhl] / ˈbɛərˈnʌk əl /

Sometimes bareknuckle, or bare-knuckled

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.

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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 British  

adjective

1. without boxing gloves

   a bare-knuckle fight

2. aggressive and without reservations

   a bare-knuckle confrontation

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Etymology

Origin of bare-knuckle

First recorded in 1880–85; bare ¹ + knuckle

Example Sentences

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.

From The Wall Street Journal

It was, in the minds of many, the closest thing to bare-knuckle street fighting.

From Los Angeles Times

"From now on, the kid gloves are off - it's bare-knuckle stuff."

From BBC

It was gloves off, bare-knuckle stuff in all its ugliness.

From BBC

The creator of ‘Peaky Blinders’ is back on his Victorian turf with a story of bare-knuckle boxing in East London, starring Stephen Graham, Erin Doherty and Malachi Kirby.

From Los Angeles Times