at daggers drawn

English

Etymology

Compare French à couteaux tirés.

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Prepositional phrase

at daggers drawn

1. (UK) In a state of open hostility.
   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 74:

     the house of Condé, collateral with the Bourbons, was perennially at daggers drawn with the rival Orléans dynasty […]

   • 2011, Martin Kettle, The Guardian, 28 Apr 2011:

     But Cameron nevertheless feels confident, because he is pretty sure that he has got Labour where he wants it, still off the centre ground on economic credibility and increasingly at daggers drawn with the Liberal Democrats, not least over the pivotal electoral event of this parliament, the AV referendum.

See also

• at loggerheads
• at each other's throats

References

• “at daggers drawn”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “be at daggers drawn” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.
• “be at daggers drawn” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.