> as lemmas

1803 Lady's Mag. Oct. 513/1 The old knave went about to show fight..but a slice o' th' sconce quieted him in no time.

1813 J. M. Good et al. Pantologia at Game cock He is no longer able to stand, but..he will continue to show fight with his beak to the last remains of life.

1863 H. Kingsley Austin Elliot I. xv. 188 Until—something or another happens to make little Eleanor show fight.

1922 Photogr. Jrnl. Amer. Dec. 459 His [sc. the snake's] first instinct is to avoid mankind if possible; his second to show fight but only when forced to do so.

1977 B. C. Haines Bill Pickett, Bulldogger i. 25 If brushers showed fight or would not be driven out of their hiding places, the ranchers would issue a command to their trained bulldogs to go get 'em.

2009 New Yorker 7 Sept. 28/2 You have to be ready for combat, and you have to lead troops into a kind of rhetorical battle. And you've got to show fight.