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Synonyms

free-for-all

American  
[free-fer-awl] / ˈfri fərˌɔl /

noun

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

    Synonyms:
    donnybrook, melee, scrap, fracas, brawl
  2. any competition or contested situation that is disordered, impulsive, or out of control.

    a free-for-all at the buffet table.

  3. 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

  1. open to everyone.

free-for-all British  

noun

  1. 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

Etymology

Origin of free-for-all

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85

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.

A big reason is because the selloff in the past couple of weeks has been an orderly one, as McCourt highlights, rather than a panicked free-for-all.

From Barron's • Mar. 16, 2026

And if the teacher is showing a video in class, it is a free-for-all, said Trimua.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026

But it’s not a free-for-all piece of personal data for all the family to chew on.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 31, 2025

His inspiration was not any architectural theory or school so much as the workaday landscape of Southern California itself, the brash free-for-all he had noticed as soon as he arrived in L.A.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2025

They apply to the organization of entire countries: remember the perennial arguments about whether the best form of government is a benign dictatorship, a federal system, or an anarchical free-for-all.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond