knock-down-drag-out
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of knock-down-drag-out
1820–30; adj. use of verb phrases knock down and drag out
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.
Her theatrical, knock-down-drag-out style is hardly atypical in the world of criminal defense, but it has attracted attention at a time when #MeToo-era cases are reaching trial, as she has urged jurors to be skeptical of women who have testified, often through tears, about being sexually abused.
From New York Times
Getting back to having knock-down-drag-out fights about the size and scope of government would be such a relief.
From Washington Post
And none of those famous, knock-down-drag-out fights with your relatives over politics.
From New York Times
Pay attention to any and all seemingly irrelevant chitchat, especially in the opening scenes, which will supply perfect narrative payoffs for the knock-down-drag-out endgame.
From Los Angeles Times
Instead of greeting the dawn while his woman sleeps, the poet gazes down on the stoop at the survivors of last night’s knock-down-drag-out quarrel.
From New York Times
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.
