bare-knuckle

bare-knuckle adjective: without boxing gloves.

Adjective

bare-knuckle (not comparable)

Without boxing gloves.
- The bare-knuckle boxing era ended in the early 20th century, when gloves were introduced, stricter rules implemented and oversight organizations formed.2009, David Lindholm, Ulf Karlsson, Bare-Knuckle Boxer's Companion, →ISBN
- In bare-knuckle fights, one of the most frequent injuries is a broken hand.2012, Ken Shamrock, Richard Hanner, Inside the Lion's Den, →ISBN
(broadly) Characterized by ruthlessly attacking or overpowering an opponent, especially when using underhanded techniques.
- a bareknuckle exchange on the Senate floor
- In one sense such bare-knuckle tactics reflect the fact that IP grants are (and are intended to be) monopolies.2005, Henry C. Mitchell, The Intellectual Commons: Toward an Ecology of Intellectual Property, →ISBN, page 28

bare-knuckle (third-person singular simple present bare-knuckles, present participle bare-knuckling, simple past and past participle bare-knuckled)

To box without boxing gloves.
- ...at 36 he is still able to bare-knuckle the swagger out of the biggest lumberjack in the Northwest.1964, Time - Volume 84, Part 1, page 88
- I hate bare-knuckling on anything but grass.2013, Nick Towle, Blood is only Red Sweat, →ISBN, page 91
To attack or overpower ruthlessly.
- “I'm not surprised,” she said, “but your will is strong and your sense of humor is great. They ought to bare-knuckle almost any problem you do have.2008, Jay Bynum, Sallad Dayes, →ISBN, page 105
- Tess shivered, but she knew it wasn't at the prospect of winter just around the corner or that wind bare-knuckling its way under her jacket, but from remembering the icy cold blue of Quinn's eyes.2012, Raeanne Thayne, A Cold Creek Homecoming, →ISBN

He was known as a tough bare-knuckle boxer and had already consolidated a reputation from his teenage years, when he had first thrown his fists in anger.2013, Eamon Dillon, Gypsy Empire, →ISBN, page 126:
The difference between a street fight and a bare-knuckle boxing match is an accepted set of rules, such as not striking a downed opponent.2015, Patrick White, The Legends of Bare-knuckle Boxing: The History & the Champions, →ISBN:
I'm telling you, all the cracks were already waiting to be slipped through, in every home, in every office, out into space, between haxor invention and bare-knuckle corporate crime.2013, Shock Theatre: Collected Speculative Fiction, 2002-2006, →ISBN, page 185:
The body, however, failed to alter the bare-knuckle politics governing the nominating convention.2013, Jeffrey Bloodworth, Losing the Center: The Decline of American Liberalism, 1968--1992, →ISBN:

Adjective
alternative form	bare knuckle
Verb
third-person singular present	bare-knuckles
present participle	bare-knuckling
past participle	bare-knuckled
past	bare-knuckled

What does bare-knuckle mean?: Bare-knuckle means without boxing gloves.
How do you use bare-knuckle in a sentence?: He was known as a tough bare-knuckle boxer and had already consolidated a reputation from his teenage years, when he had first thrown his fists in anger.
What part of speech is bare-knuckle?: Bare-knuckle can be an adjective or a verb.

Adapted from Wiktionary: bare-knuckle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “bare-knuckle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bare-knuckle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.