| 释义 |
rough-and-tumble, a., n., and adv.
Also unhyphened.
[Orig. boxing slang.]
A. adj.
1. Characterized by rough informality or disregard of usual rules; having the character of a scuffle or scramble; rude and disorderly.
1832J. P. Kennedy Swallow B. xv. (1860) 138 Rough-and-tumble fights in which they were often engaged. 1859Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2) 371 A rough and tumble fight is said to be one in which all the laws of the ring are discarded. 1872O. W. Holmes Poet. Breakf.-T. x, That circle of rough-and-tumble political life where the fine-fibred men are at a discount. 1887Stevenson Underwoods i. iv. 7 Their rough-and-tumble play they shared.
transf.1899Callow Old Lond. Tav. i. 3 There was always a more or less rough-and-tumble air about the place.
2. Of persons: Practising irregular or informal methods of boxing, etc.; inclined to be rough or violent.
1848B. D. Walsh Aristoph. 157 note, The victories of..wrestlers, boxers, and rough-and-tumble gentlemen. 1860O. W. Holmes Elsie Venner (1887) 39 The rough-and-tumble fighters all clinch. 1890F. W. Robinson Very Strange Family 18 Rough-and-tumble lads, with no fine feelings.
3. transf. Riotous, disorderly, forming a confused mass or group.
1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. (1883) 237 Dare-devil impudence of rough-and-tumble vegetation. 1879Stevenson Trav. Cevennes (1886) 49, I..found..another marish bottom among rough-and-tumble hills.
4. Roughly constructed or improvised; makeshift. rare.
1912Kipling Land & Sea Tales (1923) 70 They heaved up their rough-and-tumble anchor, and made after a..sailing-ship.
B. n.
1. Haphazard or random fighting, struggling, or adventure; scuffle, scramble.
1810Edin. Rev. XV. 447 When two persons fight, it is generally ‘according to the rule of rough and tumble’. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxviii. 92 The old brig..in which I had spent nearly a year, and got the first rough and tumble of a sea-life. 1875G. J. Whyte-Melville Katerfelto i, The Cornish hug, the Devonshire shoulder-grip, and the West Somerset rough-and-tumble.
2. With a. A random or free fight or set-to.
1821Southey in Q. Rev. XXIV. 494 The Coalheaver..closed with him at once for a rough-and-tumble. 1887Rider Haggard A. Quatermain viii, He had been successful in his rough and tumble with the Elmoran.
C. adv. In a rough, informal manner.
1818J. Palmer Jrnl. Trav. 131, I understand the question is generally asked, will you fight fair, or take it rough and tumble? 1825J. Neal Bro. Jonathan III. 270 A bit of clear tussle with a redhot Mohawk or so—rough an' tumble—would be a relief to me. 1935Z. N. Hurston Mules & Men (1970) i. viii. 178 Mr. Allen might have eaten by the rules but Cliffert and I went at it rough-and-tumble with no holds barred.
Hence rough-and-tumbling. rare.
1808Ashe Trav. I. 296 No fighting, no racing, no rough and tumbling, or anything to be observed but industry. 1832Chambers's Edin. Jrnl. I. 130/2 The scene can only be compared to a rough-and-tumbling in the back woods of America. |