Phrases, sayings and idioms at
The Phrase Finder
A dust up
Phrases, Sayings and Idioms Home > Phrase Dictionary - Meanings and Origins > A dust up

Google
 
Web www.phrases.org.uk

Browse phrases beginning with:

[A][B][C][D][E][F][G][H][I][J][K][L][M][N][O][P][Q][R][S][T][U,V][W][X,Y,Z]


Meaning

A fight.

Origin

Clearly this term alludes to the dust raised in a scuffle or fight. It isn't an especially old phrase and first appears around the end of the 19th century. The earliest printed reference I can find is Sidney L. Hinde's The fall of the Congo Arabs, 1897:

"An American nigger said ... they ain't had such a dust-up in this hole since creation."