knife fight
Close-quarters blade duel
A knife fight is a violent confrontation in which the participants use knives or other bladed weapons against each other.
Such encounters are typically close-quarters, chaotic, and extremely dangerous for everyone involved—there's a saying among those who study combat that the loser of a knife fight dies on the street and the winner dies in the ambulance.
The term also appears figuratively to describe any brutal, no-holds-barred competition: Corporate politics at that level is a knife fight.
- switchbladeSpring-released folding knife
- slashAngled line or swipe
- West Side StoryBroadway musical, rival gangs
- cutSeverance or reduction
- shivMakeshift stabbing tool
combat · blade · close quarters · hand to hand · stab · wound · snickersnee · rumble · stiletto · duel · melee · violence · machete · edge · gang · alley · street corner · prison yard
- duelsduel, sword duel, pistol duel, one-on-one, mano a mano
- fightsbrawl, scuffle, scrap, tussle, fistfight
- combatbattle, combat, unarmed combat, grappling, close combat
- Stuntsstunt, stuntman, stunt double, daredevil, stunt performer
- violenceviolence, physical attack, brutality, physical violence, aggression
- Aviation Slangroger, mayday, pan-pan, squawk, affirmative
knife fightfistfight
Hand-to-hand combat
gunfight · shootout · artillery duel · hand-to-hand combat · unarmed combat
knife fightdiplomatic resolution
Conflict ended through talks
mediation · arbitration · peace talks · reconciliation · conflict resolution
knife fightartillery bombardment
Sustained heavy weapons fire
drone strike · aerial combat · naval battle · missile strike
fight, knife, fighting, fighter, fights, knives, fought, knifed, knifing