donnybrook

1 a rough and often noisy fight usually involving several people a dozen people were arrested after the donnybrook at the stadium Synonyms affray [chiefly British], broil, brawl, fracas, fray, free-for-all, melee (also mêlée), rough-and-tumble, row, ruckus, ructionRelated Words battle, clash, combat, conflict, contest, fisticuffs, handgrips, hassle, scrap, scrimmage, scuffle, skirmish, struggle, tussle; horseplay, roughhousing; altercation, argument, dispute, kickup, quarrel, spat, squabble, tiff, wrangle

2 an often noisy or angry expression of differing opinions the kind of hot-button issue that inevitably creates a donnybrook in the halls of the statehouse Synonyms altercation, argle-bargle [chiefly British], argy-bargy [chiefly British], battle royal, bicker, brawl, contretemps, controversy, cross fire, disagreement, dispute, argument, falling-out, fight, hassle, imbroglio, kickup, misunderstanding, quarrel, rhubarb, row, scrap, set-to, spat, squabble, tiff, wrangleRelated Words clash, run-in, skirmish, tangle, tussle; logomachy; feud, vendetta; attack, contention, dissension (also dissention); debate, difference, disputation; fuss, objection, protest, protestation; affray [chiefly British], fisticuffs, fracas, fray, free-for-all, melee (also mêlée); catfight