variants or knock-down-and-drag-out
: marked by extreme violence or bitterness and by the showing of no mercy
knock-down, drag-out political debates
knock-down-drag-out noun

Examples of knock-down, drag-out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web 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 The show features all the beats of a rom-com (an onion-like peeling of layers, a knock-down, drag-out fight, a grand, loving gesture that attempts to soothe it all) and even pays homage to a few of the genre mainstays. BostonGlobe.com, 15 Sep. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'knock-down, drag-out.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1834, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of knock-down, drag-out was in 1834

Dictionary Entries Near knock-down, drag-out

Cite this Entry

“Knock-down, drag-out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/knock-down%2C%20drag-out. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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