From the M-W Editors
donnybrook was our Word of the Day on 12/28/2012. Hear the podcast!
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Examples of donnybrook in a Sentence
A donnybrook has erupted over the court's decision.
a dozen people were arrested after the donnybrook at the stadium
Recent Examples of donnybrook from the Web
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The benches-clearing incident might be the only thing keeping alive graying terms like ruckus, donnybrook, rumble, battle royal and rhubarb.
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This triggered the biggest Major League Baseball melee since a 2010 donnybrook between the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals.
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Adding insult to injury has been a donnybrook over the Western Wall.
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But those expecting a donnybrook will likely be disappointed, church experts say.
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Then Odor connected with a right-handed punch squarely to Bautista’s jaw, touching off quite a donnybrook .
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In this hectic, insane, breakneck, donnybrook-a-day world of ours, whittling is a gateway to inner peace.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'donnybrook.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
The Donnybrook Fair was an annual event held in Donnybrook-then a suburb of Dublin, Ireland-from the 13th to the 19th centuries. The fair was legendary for the vast quantities of liquor consumed there, for the number of hasty marriages performed during the week following it, and, most of all, for the frequent brawls that erupted throughout it. Eventually, the fair's reputation for tumult was its undoing. From the 1790s on there were campaigns against the drunken brawl the fair had become. The event was abolished in 1855, but not before its name had become a generic term for a free-for-all.
Origin and Etymology of donnybrook
Donnybrook Fair, annual Irish event known for its brawls
Donnybrook
playDefinition of Donnybrook
city in the province of Leinster, eastern Ireland ◆Donnybrook is a southeastern suburb of Dublin.
DONNYBROOK Defined for English Language Learners
donnybrook
playDefinition of donnybrook for English Language Learners
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: a public argument
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: an uncontrolled fight
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