fisticuff
English
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fisticuff
Where it comes from
From fist + cuff (“blow with the hand”). Modern uses as a verb are a back-formation on the plural uses of the noun.
noun fisticuffs
- A fistfight. Every fifteen or twenty minutes there was a rush to some part, to witness a fisticuff.
- A cuff or blow administered with the fist. The apprenticeship of the Prussian Crown Princes has always consisted in receiving fisticuffs and cowhidings from their progenitor, the king.
verb fisticuffs · fisticuffing · fisticuffed
- To engage in a physical fight. Generously scattering a drop of my fortune on an early morning sea breeze. Should have jumped after it. Grabber at life's banquet follows a fortune to doom. As folk fleece and fisticuff in street.
- To strike, fight or spar with the fists. Do they fisticuff with thunder-snaggs […]
Talk about this word "fisticuff." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/fisticuff. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. fisticuff. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/fisticuff "fisticuff." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/fisticuff.Cite this
@misc{fisticuff_2026,
title = {fisticuff},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/fisticuff},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
