as in skirmishes
a physical dispute between opposing individuals or groups
he came home with a black eye from the dustup at the bar
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Recent Examples of dustups
He and Raiders coach Pete Carroll intervened to keep a couple of dustups from turning into fights, including on special teams.
—
Cam Inman, Mercury News, 14 Aug. 2025
Cam Inman, Mercury News, 14 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dustups
Noun
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Still one of the NFL’s nastiest division rivalries, the game was full of skirmishes and a near-costly unnecessary roughness penalty late in the third against the Eagles that put the Cowboys in position to take the lead.—
Dan Gelston,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Sep. 2025
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Ideological skirmishes over the motives and obligations of Carpenter’s music include both sincere interrogation of its feminism and smirking counteractive reprisals to that scrutiny.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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At least 22 police officers were injured during the clashes, a spokesperson for Spain’s National Police told CNN.—
Pau Mosquera,
CNN Money,
14 Sep. 2025
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Shots fired in San Bernardino, spike strips in Van Nuys, and clashes in Santa Ana highlight a rise in confrontations between immigration agents and civilians — a trend experts warn is intensifying across Southern California.—
Sydney Barragan,
Oc Register,
13 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Whereas large investors once uniformly supported settlements to avoid costly fights, some now argue that quick capitulations undermine shareholder democracy and give too much power to activists.—
Kai Liekefett,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
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The 6-foot-6 defenseman decisively won his fights.—
Eric Stephens,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The musical battles in K-Popped did require them to compete against each other.—
Joan MacDonald,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
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Years of lobbying and court battles by the LGBTQ community have achieved a few successes over the past decade.—
Chris Lau,
CNN Money,
15 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dustups.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dustups. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.
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