Queensberry rules
Britishplural noun
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the code of rules followed in modern boxing, requiring the use of padded gloves, rounds of three minutes, and restrictions on the types of blows allowed
-
informal gentlemanly or polite conduct, esp in a dispute
Etymology
Origin of Queensberry rules
(sense 1) C19: named after the ninth Marquess of Queensberry, who originated the rules in 1869
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.
This turns out to be a bit like debating the Queensberry rules of boxing in the middle of a barroom brawl.
From The Guardian ● May 2, 2019
You’re not playing by the Marquess of Queensberry rules anymore.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 5, 2019
McGregor and Mayweather say their contract states they must fight using boxing’s classic Queensberry rules.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2017
But IPNav doesn’t exactly fight using the Marquess of Queensberry rules.
From New York Times ● Jul. 13, 2013
And so, by a pretty rapid evolution, the dexterities which the boxing glove and the Queensberry rules were supposed to substitute for the old brutalities of Sayers and Heenan were really abolished by them.
From The Admirable Bashville or, Constancy Unrewarded by Shaw, Bernard
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.
