war to the knife

Definitions

Mortal combat; fighting to the death.

countable, uncountable

Examples

“And not civil war as we knew it in England and you knew it in America, waged within certain limits of decency and humanity by disciplined forces, but civil war to the knife, altogether ferocious and anarchical, as if hell itself were let⟳ loose, as if a beautiful face⟳ were suddenly distorted with fury to the likeness of a fiend.”

“By April [Amos] Kendall, [William B.] Lewis, and the others of the inner circle had dropped their subscriptions to the Telegraph, and it was indeed war to the knife.”

“Wars of democracy have⟳ tended to become⟳ wars to the knife; as a modern secular religion, democracy requires unconditional surrender⟳.”

“On Wednesday [Steve] Bannon said: "The administrative and deep state after President Trump wins, starting on the afternoon of the 20th of January, every day will be like⟳ Stalingrad. It will be a war to the knife."”

CEFR level