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View synonyms for rough-and-tumble

rough-and-tumble

[ ruhf-uhn-tuhm-buhl ]

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

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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of rough-and-tumble1

First recorded in 1785–95
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Idioms and Phrases

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]
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Example Sentences

His youngest son, Orange Scott, was a rough-and-tumble trickster and a terrible tease.

Mandelbaum began her climb to the top of the crime world as a peddler on the rough-and-tumble, bustling streets of New York City.

In that rough-and-tumble era, wire cages surrounded many basketball courts to protect spectators from the players, and visa versa.

For many fans, her hardscrabble youth and rough-and-tumble style were viewed as endearing strengths.

While at the Tribune, Axelrod rose to city hall bureau chief, covering the rough-and-tumble politics of the Windy City.

A good man mixes with the world in the rough-and-tumble, and takes his share of the dangers, and the falls, and the temptations.

Then it was that they had time to observe what had escaped their notice in the rough-and-tumble of the mêlée.

Maybe it was more practical than rough-and-tumble individualism.

The former had hurt one of her forefeet on the previous day during the "rough-and-tumble" descending into the valley.

I know it is, said Locke with a sigh, as he thought of his own rough-and-tumble practice.

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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.

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