BARE-KNUCKLE Definition & Meaning

bare-knuckle

or ��-��Գܳ��·��

[ bair-nuhk-uhl ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

(of a boxer) wearing no boxing gloves:
These are bare-knuckle kids who need to learn a higher level of boxing.
(of a boxing match or other fight) without gloves:
a bare-knuckle brawl.
without regard for rules or niceties; rough-and-tumble:
a bare-knuckle approach to judicial reform.

adverb

without boxing gloves:
He’s a scrappy guy who likes to fight bare-knuckle.
in a manner that bypasses rules and niceties:
If we have to take on these land developers bare-knuckle, we will.

bare-knuckle

adjective

without boxing gloves
a bare-knuckle fight
aggressive and without reservations
a bare-knuckle confrontation

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of bare-knuckle¹

First recorded in 1880–85; bare ¹ + knuckle

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The creator of ‘Peaky Blinders’ is back on his Victorian turf with a story of bare-knuckle boxing in East London, starring Stephen Graham, Erin Doherty and Malachi Kirby.

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With one month to election day, the contest between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is the electoral equivalent of a bare-knuckle brawl.

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Alatorre was nevertheless able to distinguish himself fast with his bare-knuckle style.

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Perry, 32, left the UFC in 2021 and has become one of the most recognisable faces in the emerging bare-knuckle fighting scene in the US.

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But the violence has also quickly filtered into the bare-knuckle partisan trench-warfare that has characterised American politics in recent decades.

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