no holds barred
without limits or controls
TRANSLATION
no holds barred = kompromisslos, hemmungslos --- GOOGLE INDEX no holds barred: approximately 11,200,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
A.G. Lafley, Senior Advisor to G100 has said that the organization is about "CEOs coming to grips with important issues, in real time, in a give-and-take setting, with CEO-to-CEO dialogue, NO HOLDS BARRED."
(www.marketwatch.com)
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He said he expects a NO-HOLDS-BARRED lobbying effort by the television industry to amend the Copyright Act.
(www.law360.com)
(www.marketwatch.com)
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He said he expects a NO-HOLDS-BARRED lobbying effort by the television industry to amend the Copyright Act.
(www.law360.com)
Did you
know?
no holds barred
no-holds-barred (adjective form)
idiom
- without any limits or controls
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
In the expression, no holds barred, the word "hold" refers to a manner of grasping an opponent, such as in wrestling. Professional wrestling, being primarily an entertainment sport, has many entertaining names for holds such as Polish Hammer, Torture Rack, Harlem Hangover and Tombstone Pile Driver to name just a few.
The verb "to bar" means to stop or rule something out (He was barred from entering the club again).
So if no holds are barred, that in effect means that anything goes, which accurately describes wrestling before the formation of rules.
The Phrase Finder lists one of the earliest references to this expression, which they discovered in the Manitoba (Canada) Daily Free Press from February 1892:
"William Gibbs, the Kansas man, and Dennis Gallacher, of Buffalo, engaged in a wrestling match at the opera house here tonight. Gibbs was strangled into insensibility and may die. The conditions of the match were best two of three rounds in Greco-Roman style; no holds barred."
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SYNONYMS
unabridged, unadulterated, no strings attached, downright, flat out, unlimited, unrestricted
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"I would keep out of their business, they negotiate with no holds barred."
no-holds-barred (adjective form)
idiom
- without any limits or controls
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
In the expression, no holds barred, the word "hold" refers to a manner of grasping an opponent, such as in wrestling. Professional wrestling, being primarily an entertainment sport, has many entertaining names for holds such as Polish Hammer, Torture Rack, Harlem Hangover and Tombstone Pile Driver to name just a few.
The verb "to bar" means to stop or rule something out (He was barred from entering the club again).
So if no holds are barred, that in effect means that anything goes, which accurately describes wrestling before the formation of rules.
The Phrase Finder lists one of the earliest references to this expression, which they discovered in the Manitoba (Canada) Daily Free Press from February 1892:
"William Gibbs, the Kansas man, and Dennis Gallacher, of Buffalo, engaged in a wrestling match at the opera house here tonight. Gibbs was strangled into insensibility and may die. The conditions of the match were best two of three rounds in Greco-Roman style; no holds barred."
---
SYNONYMS
unabridged, unadulterated, no strings attached, downright, flat out, unlimited, unrestricted
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"I would keep out of their business, they negotiate with no holds barred."
