free-for-all

noun

ˈfrē-fə-ˌrȯl 

: a competition, dispute, or fight open to all comers and usually with no rules : brawl

also : a chaotic situation resembling a free-for-all especially in lacking rules or structure

the press conference deteriorated into a free-for-all

free-for-all adjective

Synonyms of free-for-all

• brawl

Examples of free-for-all in a Sentence

during the play-offs, fans of the opposing teams clashed in the streets in several free-for-alls

it was a free-for-all when the doors to the arena opened and the crowd rushed in all at once

Recent Examples on the Web

Hostile powers, particularly Russia, are using this free-for-all to inject lies, designed to inflame antagonisms or simply muddy the waters, into the bloodstream of democracy. —Adrian Wooldridge, Twin Cities, 6 Dec. 2025

Beckert tries to tame the sense of a conceptual free-for-all by partitioning the evolution of capitalism into periods of punctuated equilibrium. —Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025

The shift marks the end of the pandemic’s geographic free-for-all. —Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 5 Nov. 2025

Warner Brothers set off a media free-for-all Tuesday. —Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 21 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1874, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for free-for-all

• aerosol
• alcohol
• arbitral
• basketball
• butanol
• cannonball
• carbinol
• catarrhal
• cortisol
• ethanol
• fireball
• gasohol

Kids Definition

free-for-all

noun

ˈfrē-fə-ˌrȯl

: a competition or fight open to all comers usually without rules

free-for-all adjective