Etymology

war to the knife

Today it means: Mortal combat; fighting to the death. Full definition →

Spanish guerra al cuchillo
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The story

  1. Spanish · calque ofguerra al cuchillo“extremely fierce or relentless war”
  2. English todaywar to the knife

Calque of Spanish guerra al cuchillo (“extremely fierce or relentless war”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.