enter the lists

Idioms  

1. Also, enter the fray. Engage in a fight or competition, as in He said he'd be willing to enter the lists well before the primaries, or Whenever people disagreed, she was eager to enter the fray. The first term uses the noun lists in the sense of “a barrier around the arena enclosing medieval jousting tournaments” and was being used figuratively by the late 1500s. The variant uses fray in the sense of “a noisy skirmish or battle,” a usage from the late 1300s.

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Example Sentences

Now, aged 70, he’s implying that he might enter the lists next year against President Emmanuel Macron, a centrist, and far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen.

From Seattle Times

Now, aged 70, he’s implying that he might enter the lists next year against President Emmanuel Macron, a centrist, and far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen.

From Washington Times

Various forms of African music will enter the lists, not just Fela Kuti; ditto the many offshoots of dance music.

From The Guardian

In the end, Knopf declined to enter the lists, but other publishers were not so punctilious.

From The New Yorker

He’s not even going to enter the lists and joust against those economists who think that returning to the gold standard is the dumbest idea since, well, New Coke.

From The Guardian