"come out swinging" meaning in English

See come out swinging in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: en-au-come out swinging.ogg [Australia] Forms: comes out swinging [present, singular, third-person], coming out swinging [participle, present], came out swinging [past], come out swinging [participle, past]
Etymology: An allusion to the behavior of a boxer who immediately begins a boxing match or a round of a match by aggressively throwing punches in an unrestrained manner. Head templates: {{en-verb|come<,,came,come> out swinging|head=come out swinging}} come out swinging (third-person singular simple present comes out swinging, present participle coming out swinging, simple past came out swinging, past participle come out swinging)
  1. (idiomatic) To initiate an encounter or interaction by behaving in an unrestrainedly aggressive, confrontational, or accusatory manner. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-come_out_swinging-en-verb-y1mJ~73E
  2. (idiomatic) To display spunk and strength of character, especially when rising above or when fighting back against trouble or adversity. Tags: idiomatic Related terms: come back swinging
    Sense id: en-come_out_swinging-en-verb-9eN83k~D Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 37 63

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for come out swinging meaning in English (3.5kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "An allusion to the behavior of a boxer who immediately begins a boxing match or a round of a match by aggressively throwing punches in an unrestrained manner.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "comes out swinging",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "coming out swinging",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "came out swinging",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "come out swinging",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "come<,,came,come> out swinging",
        "head": "come out swinging"
      },
      "expansion": "come out swinging (third-person singular simple present comes out swinging, present participle coming out swinging, simple past came out swinging, past participle come out swinging)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1972 February 1, “Kuhn Blasts Rozelle's Poll”, in Sarasota Herald-Tribune, page C1",
          "text": "New York baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn, rolling up his sleeves and coming out swinging for the first time Monday, bluntly told Pete Rozelle to quit \"kidding the people\" about football being the nation's no. 1 sport.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002 February 25, J. F. O. McAllistair, “Blair the Bungee Jumper”, in Time",
          "text": "So ingrained is the instinct for massive retaliation that Downing St. came out swinging before mastering the facts.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To initiate an encounter or interaction by behaving in an unrestrainedly aggressive, confrontational, or accusatory manner."
      ],
      "id": "en-come_out_swinging-en-verb-y1mJ~73E",
      "links": [
        [
          "initiate",
          "initiate"
        ],
        [
          "encounter",
          "encounter"
        ],
        [
          "interaction",
          "interaction"
        ],
        [
          "unrestrainedly",
          "unrestrainedly"
        ],
        [
          "aggressive",
          "aggressive"
        ],
        [
          "confrontational",
          "confrontational"
        ],
        [
          "accusatory",
          "accusatory"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To initiate an encounter or interaction by behaving in an unrestrainedly aggressive, confrontational, or accusatory manner."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "37 63",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1967 February 26, Paul H. Dougherty, “Advertising: Oldest Agency Thinking Young”, in New York Times, page F16",
          "text": "There's ferment is Philadelphia where the ad agency with the oldest name in the business after a very bad year is picking itself up and coming out swinging.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Julie Miller, chapter 9, in Out of Control",
          "text": "She'd endured cruelty and grief and still came out swinging.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To display spunk and strength of character, especially when rising above or when fighting back against trouble or adversity."
      ],
      "id": "en-come_out_swinging-en-verb-9eN83k~D",
      "links": [
        [
          "spunk",
          "spunk"
        ],
        [
          "trouble",
          "trouble"
        ],
        [
          "adversity",
          "adversity"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To display spunk and strength of character, especially when rising above or when fighting back against trouble or adversity."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "36 64",
          "word": "come back swinging"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-come out swinging.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/57/En-au-come_out_swinging.ogg/En-au-come_out_swinging.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/En-au-come_out_swinging.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "come out swinging"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "An allusion to the behavior of a boxer who immediately begins a boxing match or a round of a match by aggressively throwing punches in an unrestrained manner.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "comes out swinging",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "coming out swinging",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "came out swinging",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "come out swinging",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "come<,,came,come> out swinging",
        "head": "come out swinging"
      },
      "expansion": "come out swinging (third-person singular simple present comes out swinging, present participle coming out swinging, simple past came out swinging, past participle come out swinging)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "come back swinging"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1972 February 1, “Kuhn Blasts Rozelle's Poll”, in Sarasota Herald-Tribune, page C1",
          "text": "New York baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn, rolling up his sleeves and coming out swinging for the first time Monday, bluntly told Pete Rozelle to quit \"kidding the people\" about football being the nation's no. 1 sport.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002 February 25, J. F. O. McAllistair, “Blair the Bungee Jumper”, in Time",
          "text": "So ingrained is the instinct for massive retaliation that Downing St. came out swinging before mastering the facts.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To initiate an encounter or interaction by behaving in an unrestrainedly aggressive, confrontational, or accusatory manner."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "initiate",
          "initiate"
        ],
        [
          "encounter",
          "encounter"
        ],
        [
          "interaction",
          "interaction"
        ],
        [
          "unrestrainedly",
          "unrestrainedly"
        ],
        [
          "aggressive",
          "aggressive"
        ],
        [
          "confrontational",
          "confrontational"
        ],
        [
          "accusatory",
          "accusatory"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To initiate an encounter or interaction by behaving in an unrestrainedly aggressive, confrontational, or accusatory manner."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1967 February 26, Paul H. Dougherty, “Advertising: Oldest Agency Thinking Young”, in New York Times, page F16",
          "text": "There's ferment is Philadelphia where the ad agency with the oldest name in the business after a very bad year is picking itself up and coming out swinging.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Julie Miller, chapter 9, in Out of Control",
          "text": "She'd endured cruelty and grief and still came out swinging.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To display spunk and strength of character, especially when rising above or when fighting back against trouble or adversity."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "spunk",
          "spunk"
        ],
        [
          "trouble",
          "trouble"
        ],
        [
          "adversity",
          "adversity"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To display spunk and strength of character, especially when rising above or when fighting back against trouble or adversity."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-come out swinging.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/57/En-au-come_out_swinging.ogg/En-au-come_out_swinging.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/En-au-come_out_swinging.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "come out swinging"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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