cut and thrust
Britishnoun
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fencing using both the blade and the point of a sword
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(in argument, debate, etc) a lively and spirited exchange of ideas or opinions
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 taught Sir Jim the cut and thrust of doing deals, before he made the leap into co-owning a business himself based on what would become a well-worn strategy.
From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2023
Germany's president is meant to be a unifying figure who stands above the cut and thrust of daily politics, one who enjoys the moral authority to exhort people to better behaviour.
From Reuters ● Apr. 4, 2022
The cut and thrust of parliamentary debate is notorious for bringing out the boor even in normally mild-mannered members of Parliament.
From Washington Post ● May 30, 2019
After witnessing the procedural cut and thrust, with little apparent forward movement, Powell declared herself as bewildered as when she first arrived in Guantánamo over the weekend, looking for answers about her son’s death.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 2, 2019
Tom, happy in this spectator, even though it was only Maggie, proceeded to such an exhibition of the cut and thrust as would be expected of the Duke of Wellington.
From Tom and Maggie Tulliver by Eliot, George
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.
