rough-and-tumbles

noun

plural of rough-and-tumble
as in brawls
a rough and often noisy fight usually involving several people a rough-and-tumble broke out among the fans in the stands

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for rough-and-tumbles
  1. brawls
  2. clashes
Noun
  • The Rek Humanoid Robot Fighting League is a fighting organization that hosts humanoid robot versus robot brawls in an undersized MMA cage.
    — Jon Martindale, PC Magazine, 5 Oct. 2026
  • These days, oversight hearings have degenerated into partisan brawls.
    — David Wippman, Washington Post, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of brawls
Noun
  • The student rallies, now stretching into their third week after violent clashes with police, mass school closures and thousands of arrests, are expected to resume on Thursday.
    — Chloe Taylor, CNBC, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms tried to make President Donald Trump the focus of one of the debate’s sharpest clashes.
    — AJC.com, AJC.com, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of clashes
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

rough-and-tumble
rough-and-tumbles
roughed
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Cite this Entry

“Rough-and-tumbles.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rough-and-tumbles. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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