dog-eat-dog

[dawg-eet-dawg, dog-eet-dog]

adjective

marked by destructive or ruthless competition; without self-restraint, ethics, etc.: It's a dog-eat-dog industry.

noun

complete egotism; action based on utter cynicism: The only rule of the marketplace was dog-eat-dog.

Origin of dog-eat-dog

First recorded in 1930–35

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

The cannibalism is, in typical Sondheim fashion, a cheeky metaphor for the dog-eat-dog capitalism of the day.
12 Craziest Pie Scenes
Marlow Stern
November 21, 2011
His plays have typically been dog-eat-dog affairs; it makes sense that he views politics as trench warfare.
David Mamet's Right Turn
Ben Crair
May 28, 2011

If we eventually lick the Kradens, one of the very reasons will be because we're a dog-eat-dog society.
Medal of Honor
Dallas McCord Reynolds
I cannot live by the dog-eat-dog code that seems to prevail wherever folk get jammed together in an unwieldy social mass.
North of Fifty-Three
Bertrand W. Sinclair

dog-eat-dog in Culture

Ruthlessly competitive: “You have to look out for your own interests; it's a dog-eat-dog world.”