come to blows

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come to blows (third-person singular simple present comes to blows, present participle coming to blows, simple past came to blows, past participle come to blows)

1. (idiomatic) To fight; to initiate physical conflict, especially subsequent to escalating tension or antagonism.
   • 1841, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 6, in The Deerslayer:

     I'll follow you, Floating Tom, into the Mingo camp, on such an arr'nd, and will strive to do my duty, should we come to blows; though, never having been tried in battle, I don't like to promise more than I may be able to perform.

   • 1905 April–October, Upton Sinclair, chapter I, in The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1906 February 26, →OCLC:

     [T]here is a variety of drunkenness. . . . Some stagger about in each other's arms, whispering maudlin words—others start quarrels upon the slightest pretext, and come to blows and have to be pulled apart.

   • 1966 September 9, “LA Jumpy? Two Stars Near Blows”, in Milwaukee Sentinel, USA, retrieved 29 Aug. 2010:

     The argument grew heated and teammates grabbed the pair to prevent them from coming to blows.

   • 2009 March 24, Rania Abouzeid, “Arab-Kurd Tensions Could Threaten Iraq's Peace”, in Time:

     Iraqi security forces and peshmerga almost came to blows in the disputed area of Khanaqin, in Diyala province, after Iraqi troops tried to enter the mixed town.

2. (impersonal) To degrade into a fight or physical conflict (in reference to an argument or to a situation of tension or antagonism).

   They exchanged insults, without it coming to blows.

• come to grips
• duke it out

• throw hands

• “come to blows”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.