Standard Lemma guide

free-for-all

adj · noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈfɹiːfəɹɔːl/
  • General-American: /ˈfɹiːfɚɔːl/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: F R IY1 F AO0 R AO2 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of a fight, competition, etc., characterized by the absence or scarcity of formal rules or limitations.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Chaos; a chaotic situation lacking rules or control.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

Examples

  • When the fire alarm went off, it was a free-for-all.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: FFA

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A deathmatch, sometimes specifically one in which every player is pitted against all the others.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: video-games

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a noisy fight in a crowd

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: brawl

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: fight, fighting, combat, scrap

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

13 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: pagaille — chaos
  • French: chacun pour soi — chaos
  • French: foire d'empoigne — chaos
  • Hindi: आपाधापी (āpādhāpī) — chaos
  • Italian: piglia-piglia — chaos
  • Lithuanian: chaosas — chaos
  • Polish: wolna amerykanka — chaos
  • Portuguese: salve-se quem puder — chaos
  • Portuguese: casa da mãe Joana — chaos
  • Romanian: competiție pentru toți — chaos
  • Romanian: încăierare generală — chaos
  • Swedish: huggsexa — chaos
  • Tagalog: hilabo — chaos