subs. phr. (old colloquial).—A general squabble; a ‘free fight’: spec. of two termagant women.
1672. J. HOWARD, All Mistaken, i. 1st Nurse. Your husband is the noted’st cuckold in all our street. 2nd Nurse. You lie, you jade; yours is a greater. Phil. Hist—now for a BATTLE-ROYAL.
1687. DRYDEN; 1804. NELSON; 1860. THOMPSON.
1853. THACKERAY, A Shabby Genteel Story, vi. A BATTLE-ROYAL speedily took took place between the two worthy mothers-in-law.
1865. L. STEPHEN, Sketches from Cambridge, 137. Our brethren there [in Oxford] seem to be always indulging in BATTLES ROYAL.
