push and shove

present singular third person pushes and shoves · participle present pushing and shoving · participle past pushed and shoved · past pushed and shoved

1. informalTo use one's strength to force oneself through a crowded area.

   He pushed and shoved his way to the stage to steal the microphone from the singer.

   5 more examples

   No student of modern warfare can observe the increasing facilities of transporting live animals in large numbers over long sea distances—which have been created by the push and shove rivalry of peaceful commercial competition—without reflecting how means so afforded can be turned to account in war.

   1880, John Charles Ready Colomb, The Defence of Great and Greater Britain, Edward Stanford, pages 190–191

   In the push and shove of this day, enter my life and help me know that you are coming to meet me at every point of need.

   2012 December 3, Max Lucado, Life to the Full, Thomas Nelson, page 16

   Gloria had always been more suited to the push and shove of the business world.

   2014 February, Charles Wallman, A Life of Leathergy, Lulu.com, page 20

   Mature souls tend to gravitate to a calm environment, they prefer the relative tranquillity of the suburbs to the push and shove of a large City.

   2015 September 5, Carl Dourish, Time In Time, Past Life Regression, Lulu.com, unpaged

   The distinctive noises and smells of each street, along with the push and shove of traders, pilgrims, clerics and soldiers, made for an energised community that impressed contemporary tourists

   2019, Jonathan Phillips, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin, Yale University Press, page 28

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see push, shove.

1. uncountableInconsiderate and unregulated behaviour.

   Synonyms: hurlyburly, rough-and-tumble