English

Noun

fisticuff ‎(plural fisticuffs)

1. (rare) A fistfight.
   • 1852, Eli Bowen et al., The Pictorial Sketch-book of Pennsylvania,

     Every fifteen or twenty minutes there was a rush to some part, to witness a fisticuff.

2. (obsolete) A cuff or blow administered with the fist.

Verb

fisticuff ‎(third-person singular simple present fisticuffs, present participle fisticuffing, simple past and past participle fisticuffed)

1. (chiefly humorous) To engage in a physical fight.
2. (obsolete) To strike, fight or spar with the fists.
   • 1846, Making of America Project, The American Whig Review,

     Do they fisticuff with thunder-snaggs […]

Derived terms

• fisticuffer

References

• fisticuff in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• “fisticuff” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.