rough-and-tumble

[ruhf-uhn-tuhm-buhl]

adjective

1. characterized by violent, random, disorderly action and struggles.

   a rough-and-tumble fight; He led an adventuresome, rough-and-tumble life.

2. given to such action.

noun

1. rough and unrestrained competition, fighting, struggling, etc.

rough-and-tumble

noun

1. a fight or scuffle without rules

adjective

1. characterized by roughness, disorderliness, and disregard for rules or conventions

Word History and Origins

Origin of rough and tumble¹

First recorded in 1785–95

Idioms and Phrases

Disorderly scuffling or infighting, as in She had some reservations about entering the rough and tumble of local politics. This expression originated in the late 1700s in boxing, where it referred to a fight without rules. [Mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

Indeed, the Maddens found a certain frisson from the get-go in writing about their rough-and-tumble upbringing with a squeaky-clean pop flair.

From Los Angeles Times

On the one hand Klopp's 'heavy metal' football was tamed by an appreciation of territorial dominance, on the other Guardiola used Klopp's ideas to adapt to the rough-and-tumble of Premier League life.

From BBC

Glass House occupies a controversial position in California’s rough-and-tumble legal cannabis industry.

From Los Angeles Times

Whether it’s about Indigenous people and what they had to go through under cowboys, or reclaiming the cowboy spirit of what America was built on — this kind of rough-and-tumble existence.

From Los Angeles Times

Bottle kicking is not the only peculiar rough-and-tumble English tradition that comes with a risk of injury.

From BBC

Related Words

• disorderly 
• rough 
• rugged 
• strenuous 
• tempestuous 
• turbulent