make the fur fly

From the way fur is torn from fighting animals.

• Audio (US):

  (file)

make the fur fly (third-person singular simple present makes the fur fly, present participle making the fur fly, simple past and past participle made the fur fly)

1. To have a vicious fight or altercation.

There are many variants of this phrasal verb, including make some fur fly, let the fur fly, let some fur fly, make fur fly, etc.

• watch the fur fly
• make the feathers fly