bare knuckle meaning: definition, quotations

bare-knuckle

verbalso spelled bare-knuckle

To box without boxing gloves.

...at 36 he is still able to bare-knuckle the swagger out of the biggest lumberjack in the Northwest.1964, Time - Volume 84, Part 1, page 88:
I hate bare-knuckling on anything but grass.2013, Nick Towle, Blood is only Red Sweat, →ISBN, page 91:

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None of the fights I've been in have included advance notification so I bare-knuckled it.2014, Katie McGarry, Take Me on, →ISBN, page 171:

To attack or overpower ruthlessly.

“I'm not surprised,” she said, “but your will is strong and your sense of humor is great. They ought to bare-knuckle almost any problem you do have.2008, Jay Bynum, Sallad Dayes, →ISBN, page 105:
Tess shivered, but she knew it wasn't at the prospect of winter just around the corner or that wind bare-knuckling its way under her jacket, but from remembering the icy cold blue of Quinn's eyes.2012, Raeanne Thayne, A Cold Creek Homecoming, →ISBN:

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His associates at City College were the sons of Eastern European working-class Jews from the Lower East Side and the Brooklyn hinterlands; they huddled in the sweaty alcoves of City College, verbally bare-knuckling in both tone and tenor.2016, Ron Robin, The Cold World They Made, →ISBN, page 39:

adj

› Alternative form of bare-knuckle.

Without boxing gloves

As a former four-time bare knuckle UFC veteran, and MMA veteran Hall of Fame coach of the year, I know they are effective and valuable to any person as a form of self defense, whether experienced or novice.2008, Waysun "Johnny" Tsai, Paula Lazarz, Practical Kung-Fu Street Defense, →ISBN:
I crave the softness of human touch, rather than the bone-crushing feel of bare knuckle fighting.2008, Peter Hall, Do You Want to Go to Jail Today?, →ISBN, page 142:

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The skill demonstrated in, for example, bare knuckle boxing is not a compelling reason to accept the risk of permanent damage to oneself or another.2012, Craig Paterson, Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: A Natural Law Ethics Approach, →ISBN:

Ruthlessly competitive

But aggressive management maneuvers like that were missing from the paper's speculations (10/25/95) about labor's return to "bare knuckle tactics."1996, Extra! - Volumes 9-10, page 6:
This raises a third and final question: How should basic research be saved in a world of bare knuckle competition?2012, Christian Schierenbeck, Fixing Higher Education, →ISBN:

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Indeed, to understand airline predation, one might ask Vanguard, Sun Jet International and Western Pacific (all named in the case as suffering from American's actions) whether they felt the sting of that bare knuckle competition.2018, Peter Forsyth, Competition versus Predation in Aviation Markets, →ISBN:

adj

Boxing, Government, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Martial arts, Military, Politics, Sports, War Without boxing gloves.

The bare-knuckle boxing era ended in the early 20th century, when gloves were introduced, stricter rules implemented and oversight organizations formed.2009, David Lindholm, Ulf Karlsson, Bare-Knuckle Boxer's Companion, →ISBN:
In bare-knuckle fights, one of the most frequent injuries is a broken hand.2012, Ken Shamrock, Richard Hanner, Inside the Lion's Den, →ISBN:

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He was known as a tough bare-knuckle boxer and had already consolidated a reputation from his teenage years, when he had first thrown his fists in anger.2013, Eamon Dillon, Gypsy Empire, →ISBN, page 126:
The difference between a street fight and a bare-knuckle boxing match is an accepted set of rules, such as not striking a downed opponent.2015, Patrick White, The Legends of Bare-knuckle Boxing: The History & the Champions, →ISBN:

Broadly Characterized by ruthlessly attacking or overpowering an opponent, especially when using underhanded techniques.

a bareknuckle exchange on the Senate floor
In one sense such bare-knuckle tactics reflect the fact that IP grants are (and are intended to be) monopolies.2005, Henry C. Mitchell, The Intellectual Commons: Toward an Ecology of Intellectual Property, →ISBN, page 28:

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In 2000 America witnessed the bare-knuckle tactics of the GOP firsthand in Florida — tactics that included intimidation of black voters, phony felon lists, hired thugs sent by Tom DeLay to stop the recount, a secretary of state who did all that could be done to push the election in Bush's favor, and so on.2007, Elliot D. Cohen, Bruce W. Fraser, The Last Days of Democracy: How Big Media and Power-hungry Government are Turning America into a Dictatorship, →ISBN, page 278:
The territory was bursting with political spoils and riches to be captured, and “old settlers” vied with newcomers for a place at the head of the line, encouraging bare-knuckle politics with a distinctively local cast.2010, Mary Lethert Wingerd, Kirsten Delegard, North Country: The Making of Minnesota, →ISBN, page ccxliii:
I'm telling you, all the cracks were already waiting to be slipped through, in every home, in every office, out into space, between haxor invention and bare-knuckle corporate crime.2013, Shock Theatre: Collected Speculative Fiction, 2002-2006, →ISBN, page 185:
The body, however, failed to alter the bare-knuckle politics governing the nominating convention.2013, Jeffrey Bloodworth, Losing the Center: The Decline of American Liberalism, 1968--1992, →ISBN:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — authors: page histories for bare-knuckle and bare knuckle.