To whip ones opponent; to make a big commotion.
1825. If my New York master only had hold o him; hed make the feathers fly, I reckhemI believe.John Neal, Brother Jonathan, i. 94.
1845. She better not come a cavortin bout me with any of her rantankerous carryins on this mornin, for I aint in no humour nohow! and he made a threatening gesture with his head, as much as to say hed make the fur fly if she did.W. T. Thompson, Chronicles of Pineville, p. 178 (Phila.).
1846. I throwed the licks into him right and left, and I made the fur fly, I tell you.W. T. Porter, ed., A Quarter Race in Kentucky, etc., p. 94.
1853. Mr. Editor, if you would larrup some of your neighbours a little, and make their fur fly, they would let you alone.Daily Morning Herald, St. Louis, March 4.
1855. The money would have to be planked right down on the nail, and the hair would fly somewhere.Seba Smith, Major Jack Downing, p. 437 (1860).
1862. He had been all summer buildin a hull lot of iron plated monsters, and ef the war didnt come to an end too soon, they would make the fur fly.Major Jack Downings Letters, Nov. 22.
1888.
There may be a few, perhaps, who fail | |
To see it in quite this light; | |
But when the fur flies I had rather be | |
The outside dog in the fight. | |
Mrs. Custer, Tenting on the Plains, p. 257. |
1888. Wait until the National Convention, and you will see the fur fly from the Cleveland hide.Denver Republican, Feb. 29 (Farmer).