| 释义 |
free-for-all, a. and n. orig. U.S.
[free a. 10 b.]
A. adj. Open to all.
B. n. A fight, etc., in which anyone may take part.
1881Chicago Times 11 June, The grand free-for-all horse race, open to the world. 1902S. E. White Blazed Trail xxvii. 175 In a free-for-all knock-down-and-drag-out, kicking, gouging, and biting are all legitimate. 1918C. E. Mulford Man fr. Bar-20 vi. 56 From the noise it appeared to be turning into a free-for-all. 1923L. J. Vance Baroque xiv. 85 The girl quietly lifted the lower sash, letting in..cacophony of a domestic free-for-all in one of the neighboring flats. 1931Amer. Speech VII. 49 [Lumberjacks'] ‘free-for-all’ when the ‘shanty men’ join the ‘bull pen boys’ around the box stove. 1941L. A. G. Strong Bay ii. 56 To judge by the sounds, it was a regular free-for-all. 1955A. L. Rowse Expansion Eliz. Eng. viii. 296 The development of privateering from a promiscuous free-for-all scrimmage..into a regular business. 1971Guardian 12 July 7/6 The sort of free-for-all tariff system we saw at London Airport in the sixties. |