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Glite Dictionary
to drop the gloves

to drop the gloves

8.6
To prepare for a real fight or, informally, to stop fighting and start working together
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : dejar los guantes
  • During the meeting, they decided to drop the gloves and work together for a solution.

Examples

  • Man, they should drop the gloves and start smacking each other.

    The Best Man Holiday (2013)

  • Drop the helmets off, drop the gloves, go fisticuffs.

    Blog text (10)

  • Dougie "The Thug" Glatt is about to fucking drop the gloves and take on Ross "The Boss" Rhea.

    Goon (2012)

  • The two players dropped the gloves to settle their dispute on the ice.

  • After arguing for too long, the teammates finally agreed to drop the gloves and cooperate.

Synonyms

to throw down
vsto drop the gloves
  • Informal
18 7.0

To start a fight or bold competition to show strength

is about preparing to fight rather than engaging immediately
to catch hands
vsto drop the gloves
  • Slang
9.9

To get into a physical fight with someone

prepares for confrontation or sometimes signals stopping hostility instead of fighting

Antonyms

to cooperate
543 3.3

To work together with other people to reach the same goal

How Confrontational

to fight
∞ 1.0
to drop the gloves
  • Informal
8.6
to threaten
987 3.3
to negotiate
  • Formal
801 3.7
to make peace
89 3.4

Surface Forms

drop the gloves infinitive
dropped the gloves past
dropped the gloves past participle
dropping the gloves present participle
drops the gloves third person singular

Morphology

drop + the + glove

Knowing 'drop' and 'glove(s)' yields a literal image of letting go or removing gloves, which can hint at readiness for action, but the idiomatic sense of preparing for a fight (or alternately ending hostilities) depends on cultural knowledge of hockey/boxing rituals and is not fully predictable from the parts. Because the connection is partially inferable but requires pragmatic/cultural knowledge, the expression is best classified as semi-transparent.

Etymology

Drop the gloves comes from ice hockey, where players take off their gloves and drop them on the ice to show they are ready to fight. That's why it usually means 'prepare for a fight or argument', and sometimes people use it to mean 'stop fighting and start serious talks or work together'.