Donnybrook
WiktionaryText
Etymology
Named from Donnybrook, a suburb of Dublin, the site of a notoriously disorderly annual fair.
Noun
- A brawl or fracas; a scene of chaos.
- 1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘His Chance in Life’, Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio 2005, p. 56:
- But the Hindus turned out and broke their heads; when, finding lawlessness pleasant, Hindus and Muhammadans together raised an aimless sort of Donnybrook just to see how far they could go.
- 2002, Joseph O'Connor, Star of the Sea, Vintage 2003, p. 223:
- This was no innocuous donnybrook but a veritable carnival of thuggee.
- 1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘His Chance in Life’, Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio 2005, p. 56: