English

Noun

pistols at dawn ‎(uncountable)

1. A duel.
2. By extension, a disagreement strong enough to evoke a duel.
   • 2009, Wendy Leigh, Patrick Swayze: One Last Dance, p. 149:

     By rights, the making of To Wong Foo should have been fun for Patrick, Wesley, and John, but from the first it was pistols at dawn.