bare-knuckling

bare-knuckling is the present participle and gerund of bare-knuckle.

Noun

bare-knuckling (uncountable)

Boxing that is done without boxing gloves.
- In fact, the ring's transition from bare-knuckling to boxing was, in practical effect, only a slight move forward.1979, Don Atyeo, Blood & guts, violence in sports, page 168
Ruthless competition.
- But there were danger signs in the polls that Carter's bare-knuckling was debasing what one aide called “his strongest positive: you Jimmy the Mean says he's sorry, and Ronald Reagan scrambles for the middle of the road.1980, Newsweek - Volume 96, page 312

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
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

What does bare-knuckling mean?: Bare-knuckling means boxing that is done without boxing gloves.
What is bare-knuckling the present participle and gerund of?: Bare-knuckling is the present participle and gerund of bare-knuckle.
What part of speech is bare-knuckling?: Bare-knuckling is a noun.

Adapted from Wiktionary: bare-knuckling (page history and authors); 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-knuckling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bare-knuckling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.