down-and-dirty

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down-and-dirt·y

(doun′ənd-dûr′tē)

adj. Informal

1. Intently and fiercely competitive, often unscrupulously so: a down-and-dirty political campaign.

2. Bawdy; lewd.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

down′-and-dirt′y

adj. Informal.

1. unscrupulous; nasty: a down-and-dirty election campaign.

2. earthy; funky.

[1980–85]

References in periodicals archive ?

Army Special Forces veteran Larry Jordan was given a unique assignment by his commanders--come up with a truly down-and-dirty hand-to-hand fighting system for his fellow Green Berets and U.S.

The Dirty Dozen

20 show featured another wine-related dirty job: wine cave digger.) Merryvale winemaker Sean Foster said Rowe had a good time getting down-and-dirty at the winery, and mentioned that he always loves an excuse to come up to the wine country to film.

Dirty wine boy

Raffish, rakish Cagliari, Sardinia's down-and-dirty port city, looks set to be catapulted onto the international trophy art museum circuit if Zaha Hadid's latest vision comes to pass.