Word.ws English Dictionary

take a knife to a gunfight

take a knife to a gunfight is the alternative form of bring a knife to a gunfight.

Meaning of bring a knife to a gunfight

Verb

bring a knife to a gunfight (third-person singular simple present brings a knife to a gunfight, present participle bringing a knife to a gunfight, simple past and past participle brought a knife to a gunfight)

  1. (idiomatic) To enter into a confrontation or other challenging situation without being adequately equipped or prepared.
    • Isn't that just like a wop? Brings a knife to a gun fight.1987, David Mamet, The Untouchables

Forms of take a knife to a gunfight

third-person singular presenttakes a knife to a gunfight
present participletaking a knife to a gunfight
pasttook a knife to a gunfight
past participletaken a knife to a gunfight

Questions about take a knife to a gunfight

What is take a knife to a gunfight the alternative form of?
Take a knife to a gunfight is the alternative form of bring a knife to a gunfight.

Words near take a knife to a gunfight in the dictionary

  1. take a hint
  2. take a hit
  3. take a horn
  4. take a joke
  5. take a knee
  6. take a knife to a gunfight
  7. take a leaf out of someone's book
  8. take a leak
  9. take a licking
  10. take a licking and keep on ticking
  11. take a liking to

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: take a knife to a gunfight (page history and authors); bring a knife to a gunfight (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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Cite this entry: “take a knife to a gunfight.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/take_a_knife_to_a_gunfight. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.