free-for-all

[free-fer-awl]
noun
1.
a fight, argument, contest, etc., open to everyone and usually without rules.
2.
any competition or contested situation that is disordered, impulsive, or out of control: a free-for-all at the buffet table.
3.
Informal. any enterprise or field of endeavor in which various companies, countries, participants, etc., compete without restriction: a price-cutting free-for-all among local stores.
adjective
4.
open to everyone.

Origin:
1880–85, Americanism


1. brawl, fracas, scrap, melee, donnybrook.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
free-for-all
 
n
informal a disorganized brawl or argument, usually involving all those present

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Example sentences
The result has been a news free-for-all, a jumble of sometimes confirmed but
  often contradictory reports.
The rocket design business is a technical free-for-all.
The library project is now embroiled in a ferocious legal free-for-all spanning
  the globe.
The government has pulled back from a full-scale free-for-all.
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