square off

square off idiom
Take a fighting stance, prepare to fight, as in As they squared off, the teacher came out and stopped them, or The ambassador said the two countries were squaring off. [First half of 1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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