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3. the gloves are off

the gloves are off

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the gloves are off

  (informal)

if the gloves are off in an argument or competition, the people involved have started to argue or compete in a more determined or unpleasant way She gave a second interview later that year but this time the gloves were off. Her ex-boss, she said, was 'a tyrant and a fraud'.

See also: glove, off