Word.ws English Dictionary

puts up one's dukes

puts up one's dukes is the third-person singular simple present indicative of put up one's dukes.

Meaning of put up one's dukes

Verb

put up one's dukes (third-person singular simple present puts up one's dukes, present participle putting up one's dukes, simple past and past participle put up one's dukes)

  1. (idiomatic) To raise one's clenched fists in front of one's body and stand in a threatening or defiant manner, in preparation for a fistfight.
    • The proceedings of the State Democratic Convention, held at Turner Hall, yesterday, were disgraceful enough to bring a blush even to the cheek of a Democrat. "Liar," "snide," "put up your dukes, if you want to fight," catcalls, hooting, and yelling filled up a greater part of the deliberations of...1886, Edward Money, The Truth about America, page 206
  2. (broadly, idiomatic) To take firm action or to show oneself to be committed to such action, as when competing in a sporting event or other contest.
    • Well you're a real tough cookie with a long history
      Of breaking little hearts like the one in me
      That's okay, let's see how you do it
      Put up your dukes and let's get down to it1980, Eddie Schwartz, “Hit Me with Your Best Shot”, in Crimes of Passion, performed by Pat Benatar

Questions about puts up one's dukes

What is puts up one's dukes the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Puts up one's dukes is the third-person singular simple present indicative of put up one's dukes.

Words near puts up one's dukes in the dictionary

  1. puts under
  2. puts up
  3. puts up a fight
  4. puts up a show
  5. puts up on
  6. puts up one's dukes
  7. puts up one's hand
  8. puts up one's hands
  9. puts up or shuts up
  10. puts up to
  11. puts up with

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: puts up one's dukes (page history and authors); put up one's dukes (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.

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