bare-knuckled

English

Verb

bare-knuckled

1. simple past and past participle of bare-knuckle

Adjective

bare-knuckled (comparative more bare-knuckled, superlative most bare-knuckled)

1. Synonym of bare-knuckle
   1. Without boxing gloves
      • 2000, Murray Phillips, From Sidelines to Centre Field, →ISBN:

        Frank Slavin, who fought both bare-knuckled and gloved bouts, was the heavyweight champion of Australia and boxed in the United States, Canada and England.

      • 2004, Robert E. Howard, Paul Herman, Waterfront Fists and Others, →ISBN:

        Well, it's hard to knock a tough man cold with bare-knuckled head punches.

      • 2012, Gregory Dupree, Harlem Street Fighter, →ISBN, page 3:

        However, Dean was hardly a nature lover, so his attention immediately went to eight men in the backyard, who were training in bare-knuckled fist fighting—three white men and five colored men.

   2. Ruthlessly competitive
      • 1999, Sue Welfare, Off the Record, →ISBN, page 279:

        His return – armed with a set peppered with Clash classics such as 'London Calling' and 'White Man In Hammersmith Palais' – had the old bare-knuckled punks from 1977 literally in tears.

      • 2007, Patrick G. Williams, Red River Valley: Beyond Redemption, →ISBN:

        Recent electoral battles in the city had been closely contested, bare-knuckled affairs, each party routinely accusing the other of cheating.

      • 2010, John B. Abbink, Alternative Assets and Strategic Allocation, →ISBN, page 141:

        Nevertheless, merger arbitrage is not wholly lacking in bare-knuckled elements.