Free-for-all

//ˈfɹiːfəɹɔːl// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1
Chaos; a chaotic situation lacking rules or control. idiomatic
"When the fire alarm went off, it was a free-for-all."
2
a noisy fight in a crowd wordnet
3
A deathmatch, sometimes specifically one in which every player is pitted against all the others.

Adjective

1
Of a fight, competition, etc., characterized by the absence or scarcity of formal rules or limitations. not-comparable
"Men, as well as women, were springing in to the rope and pulling. No longer was it team against team, but all Oakland against all San Francisco, festooned with a free-for-all fight."

Synonyms

ado affray bedlam bedlam let loose blast bobbery

Example

"The confirmation hearings turned into a free-for-all."

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.