Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
free-for-all en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˈfɹiːfəɹɔːl/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (Australia) audio
- /ˈfɹiːfɚɔːl/ (General-American)
Meanings
-
(not-comparable) Of a fight, competition, etc., characterized by the absence or scarcity of formal rules or limitations.
But, he added, “Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences!”
2022 October 27, Lauren Hirsch, quoting Elon Musk, “Elon Musk Reaches Out to Advertisers Ahead of Deadline for Twitter Deal”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:Then Lucy told him about the great passion of her father—about the long, time-honored custom of free-for-all races, and the great races that had been run in the past; […]
1917, Zane Grey, Wildfire:Men, as well as women, were springing in to the rope and pulling. No longer was it team against team, but all Oakland against all San Francisco, festooned with a free-for-all fight.
1913 October, Jack London, The Valley of the Moon, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC:
Relateds
knockdown-dragout
free-for-all en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˈfɹiːfəɹɔːl/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (Australia) audio
- /ˈfɹiːfɚɔːl/ (General-American)
Meanings
-
(idiomatic) Chaos; a chaotic situation lacking rules or control.
Competition was the order of the day: the industrial warfare of the sixties was a free-for-all.
1919, Burton Jesse Hendrick, The Age of Big Business:When the fire alarm went off, it was a free-for-all.
[…] this was a consequence of building Tubes by means of a competitive free-for-all. Each company wanted to expand its territory at the expense of the others.
2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 134:
-
A deathmatch, sometimes specifically one in which every player is pitted against all the others.
Forms
Relateds
kick bollocks scramble · law of the jungle
Synonyms
FFA
Translations (13)
it piglia-piglia (chaos) · ro încăierare generală (chaos) · pt casa da mãe Joana (chaos) · hi आपाधापी (chaos) · pl wolna amerykanka (chaos) · fr foire d'empoigne (chaos) · fr pagaille (chaos) · sv huggsexa (chaos) · pt salve-se quem puder (chaos) · fr chacun pour soi (chaos) · ro competiție pentru toți (chaos) · tl hilabo (chaos) · lt chaosas (chaos)