Free Translator Free Translator
Translators Dictionaries Courses Other
Home
English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Free-for-all   Listen
noun
free-for-all  n.  
1.
A noisy and disordered fight conducted without rules.
Synonyms: brawl.
2.
Hence: Any vigorous competition in which anyone can compete, with few or no rules, and in which the winner is unpredictable; as, when they began to distribute the free food, the orderly line of hungry recipients degenerated into a free-for-all.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words



Share |





"Free-for-all" Quotes from Famous Books



... way of getting even, and—and some one spoke of this breach of promise suit, and we—that is, I—got up the summons, and I told Ed Tootle to serve it on you at your orgy—you had no business to expect me to enter any free-for-all inebriates' competition—you know that, 'Gene! It may have been a little extreme as a joke; but if you'd laughed it off as you always do, nobody would have thought anything of it except to chaff you about it. But what do you ...
— Double Trouble - Or, Every Hero His Own Villain • Herbert Quick

... better armed than the gipsy party, so that it was unlikely they would rally to their man's aid. Kagig was an unknown quantity, but except that his black eyes glittered rather more brightly than usual he made no sign; and we kept quiet because we did not want to start a free-for-all fight. Will was quite able to take care of any single opponent, and would ...
— The Eye of Zeitoon • Talbot Mundy

... Paul had abandoned all idea of holding the scouts in any sort of regular formation, so that it had become, what William called, a "free-for-all," with khaki-clad lads stretched out along fifty yards of space, usually in small squads, and a rear guard ...
— The Banner Boy Scouts on a Tour - The Mystery of Rattlesnake Mountain • George A. Warren

... The crowd thickened every moment from outlets of the gambling shacks and saloons. All other business and pleasure was forgotten with the swift word passing to say that the cowman who had slapped the bully in the face and challenged him that morning to a catch-as-catch-can, free-for-all contest, was now in Alf Simpson's Chuck House while his opponent, in the cold range of enforced, semi-sobriety, was in Su Sing's Hashery, the ...
— Rimrock Trail • J. Allan Dunn

... that all hands must attend a free-for-all banquet which, inflooenced by the tenth drink, he then an' thar decides to give at ...
— Faro Nell and Her Friends - Wolfville Stories • Alfred Henry Lewis

... the vessel. Up forward he found a scene of dire confusion. Alongside the engine room the engineer lay prone on the deck with his second bending over him. Up in the nose of the vessel the remainder of the ship's company it appeared was engaged in a free-for-all fist ...
— The Deaves Affair • Hulbert Footner

... Post Office tossed aside all obligations to the licensed company, and threw open the door to a free-for-all competition. It undertook to start a second system in London, and in two years discovered its blunder and proposed to cooperate. It granted licenses to five cities that demanded municipal ownership. These cities set out bravely, with loud beating of drums, plunged from one mishap to another, ...
— The History of the Telephone • Herbert N. Casson

... him. Upon this the commanding officer told one of the guards to shoot him, which the man did very promptly. The bullet went clear through the Indian, and shot one of the interpreter's fingers off. After this little incident, there was a general free-for-all fight, in which the Indians were badly worsted. After this battle the Indians went south and were ...
— The Great Salt Lake Trail • Colonel Henry Inman

... said Peter positively. "I'm sure of it! I didn't get a look at his face last night, but it's the same hat, same figure—everything. I'll bet anything he's on Ryan's payroll; and there's little Hare hobnobbing with him as friendly as though they'd been classmates at college! That kind of free-for-all geniality doesn't go, you know! A reformer in a rotten town like this," said Peter vehemently "would do well to cultivate a profound ...
— Captivating Mary Carstairs • Henry Sydnor Harrison

... nothing else to do," said Anne. "It is better to retire with dignity than to indulge in a free-for-all fight." ...
— Grace Harlowe's Sophomore Year at High School • Jessie Graham Flower



Words linked to "Free-for-all" :   scrap, fight, brawl, fighting, combat



Copyright © 2024 Free-Translator.com