free-for-all

[ free-fer-awl ]

/ ˈfri fərˌɔl /

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See synonyms for free-for-all on Thesaurus.com

noun

a fight, argument, contest, etc., open to everyone and usually without rules.

any competition or contested situation that is disordered, impulsive, or out of control: a free-for-all at the buffet table.

Informal. any enterprise or field of endeavor in which various companies, countries, participants, etc., compete without restriction: a price-cutting free-for-all among local stores.

adjective

open to everyone.

OTHER WORDS FOR free-for-all

1 brawl, fracas, scrap, melee, donnybrook.

See synonyms for free-for-all on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of free-for-all

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85

Words nearby free-for-all

free flap, free flight, free-floating, free-floating anxiety, Freefone, free-for-all, free form, Free French, freegan, free gift, free gingiva

How to use free-for-all in a sentence

In other words, the free thinker defending freedom of thought.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But along with the cartoon funk is an all-too-real story of police brutality embodied by a horde of evil Pigs.
‘Black Dynamite’ Presents Police Brutality: The Musical|Stereo Williams|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Tend to your own garden, to quote the great sage of free speech, Voltaire, and invite people to follow your example.
How the PC Police Threaten Free Speech|Nick Gillespie|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The simple, awful truth is that free speech has never been particularly popular in America.
How the PC Police Threaten Free Speech|Nick Gillespie|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Cambodia, with its seemingly free press, is also a haven for foreign journalists.
Cambodia’s Smoke-and-Mirrors Democracy|David Shaftel|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
What need to look to right or left when you are swallowing up free mile after mile of dizzying road?
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke
It seemed to free her of a responsibility which she had blindly assumed and for which Fate had not fitted her.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
If we can free this State of Yankees, we will accomplish more than your armies down south have.
The Courier of the Ozarks|Byron A. Dunn
The voice of the orator peculiarly should be free from studied effects, and responsive to motive.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
Above all, he was amazed to hear me talk of a mercenary standing army in the midst of peace and among a free people.
Gulliver's Travels|Jonathan Swift

British Dictionary definitions for free-for-all

free-for-all

noun

informal a disorganized brawl or argument, usually involving all those present

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

free-for-all

OTHER WORDS FOR free-for-all

Origin of free-for-all

Words nearby free-for-all

Words related to free-for-all

How to use free-for-all in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for free-for-all