n. 1. a noisy and disordered fight conducted without rules. Syn. -- brawl. [ WordNet 1.5 ]
2.Hence: Any vigorous competition in which anyone can compete, with few or no rules, and in which the winner is unpredictable; as, when they began to distribute the free food, the orderly line of hungry recipients degenerated into a free-for-all. [ PJC ]