Definition of "free-for-all" []

• A disorderly fight, argument, or competition in which everyone present participates. See Synonyms at brawl. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "And for those with wells still producing, exportation suddenly became a lot more expensive: tanker traffic in Libya has been described as a free-for-all, as tanker owners jack up rates and port operators struggle to load with few workers."
• "But the Japanese have a number of traditions that give them pause about the competitive free-for-all that most Americans accept as the norm."
• "But can we try it in this key? or whatever, and it's just really a free-for-all."