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  • rough-and-tumble
    rough-and-tumble
    adjective
    characterized by violent, random, disorderly action and struggles.
  • rough and tumble
    rough and tumble
    Disorderly scuffling or infighting, as in She had some reservations about entering the rough and tumble of local politics. This expression originated in the late 1700s in boxing, where it referred to a fight without rules. [Mid-1800s]
Synonyms

rough-and-tumble

American  
[ruhf-uhn-tuhm-buhl] / ˈrʌf ənˈtʌm bəl /

adjective

  1. characterized by violent, random, disorderly action and struggles.

    a rough-and-tumble fight; He led an adventuresome, rough-and-tumble life.

  2. given to such action.

noun

  1. rough and unrestrained competition, fighting, struggling, etc.

rough-and-tumble British  

noun

  1. a fight or scuffle without rules

"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

adjective

  1. characterized by roughness, disorderliness, and disregard for rules or conventions

"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
rough and tumble Idioms  

  1. Disorderly scuffling or infighting, as in She had some reservations about entering the rough and tumble of local politics. This expression originated in the late 1700s in boxing, where it referred to a fight without rules. [Mid-1800s]

Etymology

Origin of rough-and-tumble

First recorded in 1785–95

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.

The daughter of a Marine father and a trauma nurse mother, Murphy grew up outside of Chicago as a rough-and-tumble kid.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026

This may work in some of the rough-and-tumble scraps of urban politics, but it’s hardly the approach of someone who wants to unite a city as important as New York.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 29, 2025

Sloan’s rough-and-tumble peekaboo game is exemplary for a first-timer.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2025

Her swift rise through San Francisco’s rough-and-tumble politics were defined by days in courtrooms representing victims and nights at glitzy political galas.

From BBC • Nov. 3, 2024

Surprisingly, for a man involved in the rough-and-tumble world of professional baseball, Sunday was very religious.

From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler

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.