variants
or knock-down-and-drag-out
as in fierce
marked by bursts of destructive force or intense activity
the football game was a knock-down, drag-out battle between bitter rivals
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of knock-down, drag-out
What follows is a knock-down, drag-out brawl reminiscent of Tommy Hearns and Marvin Hagler.
—
Lynette Rice, Deadline, 15 Dec. 2024
This was a knock-down, drag-out fight — the kind of match that would make for excellent watching when Marvel Snap tournaments are up and running.
—Ash Parrish, The Verge, 31 Jan. 2023
Last week’s knock-down, drag-out fight could just be the first of many this session as GOP lawmakers grapple with government spending, the debt ceiling and the situation at the border.
—Dallas News, 10 Jan. 2023
But both performers rode their SNL success to Hollywood superstardom, in turn validating the audience's appetite for inspired silliness and knock-down, drag-out belly-laughs.
—Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 13 Dec. 2022
As much as the streaming wars can feel like a knock-down, drag-out fight, Amazon can spend time on the ropes because streaming isn’t its core business.
—Angela Watercutter, Wired, 18 Mar. 2022
But rather than a knock-down, drag-out fight to the finish, this series is all about empowerment.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 17 Feb. 2022
However, leaping in expecting an argument to become a knock-down, drag-out fight isn't the best way to go about your life.
—Tarot Astrologers, chicagotribune.com, 9 Feb. 2022
Its climactic scenes are the same as any classically satisfying sports movie’s: athletes (in this case, young Venus) making decisions about themselves, their worth, their futures, and bringing those notions to bear in a knock-down, drag-out match.
—K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, 19 Nov. 2021
Lynette Rice, Deadline, 15 Dec. 2024
This was a knock-down, drag-out fight — the kind of match that would make for excellent watching when Marvel Snap tournaments are up and running.
—Ash Parrish, The Verge, 31 Jan. 2023
Last week’s knock-down, drag-out fight could just be the first of many this session as GOP lawmakers grapple with government spending, the debt ceiling and the situation at the border.
—Dallas News, 10 Jan. 2023
But both performers rode their SNL success to Hollywood superstardom, in turn validating the audience's appetite for inspired silliness and knock-down, drag-out belly-laughs.
—Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 13 Dec. 2022
As much as the streaming wars can feel like a knock-down, drag-out fight, Amazon can spend time on the ropes because streaming isn’t its core business.
—Angela Watercutter, Wired, 18 Mar. 2022
But rather than a knock-down, drag-out fight to the finish, this series is all about empowerment.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 17 Feb. 2022
However, leaping in expecting an argument to become a knock-down, drag-out fight isn't the best way to go about your life.
—Tarot Astrologers, chicagotribune.com, 9 Feb. 2022
Its climactic scenes are the same as any classically satisfying sports movie’s: athletes (in this case, young Venus) making decisions about themselves, their worth, their futures, and bringing those notions to bear in a knock-down, drag-out match.
—K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, 19 Nov. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for knock-down, drag-out
Adjective
-
The feedback was fierce—storyboards dismantled, ideas shredded—but the environment was psychologically safe.—
Ann Kowal Smith,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2025
-
Caron was used to seeing my fiery side, the fierce competitor, the demanding coach.—
Jim Calhoun with Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
31 May 2025
Adjective
-
The prosecution appears poised to use Combs' feud with Knight, as well as another series of encounters with rapper Kid Cudi, as demonstrative of a violent streak.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA Today,
28 May 2025
-
Yet the Brazilian proceeded to show how Pereira’s faith was misplaced, first with a stroppy performance at Chelsea that prompted his head coach to publicly criticise his body language and then with his second violent meltdown of the season, against Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez in the FA Cup.—
Steve Madeley,
New York Times,
28 May 2025
Adjective
-
America, then, was visible to Fuller as the ferocious winds destroyed the vessel.—
James Marcus,
New Yorker,
2 June 2025
-
The Thunder are deep, play ferocious defense and have a star in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who embraces the big moment.—
Bob Harkins,
New York Times,
29 May 2025
Adjective
-
New York trailed by 13 with 5:38 left in the game and tried to continue the series’ streak of someone — Knicks or Pacers — making a furious fourth quarter comeback.—
Joe Vardon,
New York Times,
27 May 2025
-
Connecticut has funneled $12.5 billion in surpluses since 2017 to build reserves and scale back pension debt, a furious pace that far outstrips any similar effort in modern history.—
Keith M. Phaneuf,
Hartford Courant,
25 May 2025
Adjective
-
The team notes that the gases are chemically indistinguishable from gases present in volcanic rocks from Hawaiʻi, where volcanism is fueled by a mantle plume.—
David Bressan,
Forbes.com,
27 May 2025
-
There’s a volcanic hot disc, an icy cold disc, an aquatic disc, and a verdant blush disc.—
Bill Desowitz,
IndieWire,
27 May 2025
Adjective
-
There are other objects of worship from the days when Japan’s Christians had to hide from vicious persecution, including a ceramic bottle of holy water from Nakaenoshima, an island where Hidden Christians were martyred in the 1620s.—
Foster Klug,
Los Angeles Times,
4 June 2025
-
Years before the Kendrick Lamar and Drake imbroglio, Pusha T shared his own vicious diss track against the Canadian hip-hop superstar.—
Matthew Strauss,
Pitchfork,
3 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Knock-down, drag-out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/knock-down%2C%20drag-out. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share