A violent altercation; a free-for-all, literal or figurative. This term, which has a modern ring to it, actually dates from the 1820s and originated in America. In those days it was nearly always used with reference to westerners, at least in print. James Fenimore Cooper used it in The Prairie (1827): “It was thinking of what you call consequences . . . that prevented me from . . . making it a real knock-down and drag-out.”