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Pugilist

//ˈpju(ː).d͡ʒəlɪst// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    One who fights with their fists, especially a professional prize fighter; a boxer.

    "I laugh and hoot at ye, ye cricket-players, ye pugilists, ye deaf Burkes and blind Bendigoes!"

  2. 2
    someone who fights with their fists for sport wordnet
  3. 3
    One who engages in rhetorical attacks, for himself or on behalf of another. figuratively

    "President Obama's style leaves liberal activists in the Democratic Party cold. They prefer a pugilist fighting for principle over a pragmatist agreeing to compromises. Can the president reignite the enthusiasm of his party's core supporters by November?"

Etymology

From Latin pugil (“boxer”) + -ist, related to pugnus (“fist”), from Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- (“prick, punch”). Compare contemporary pugilism (“boxing”) (1791).

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