bringaknifetoagunfight (third-person singular simple presentbrings a knife to a gunfight,present participlebringing a knife to a gunfight,simple past and past participlebrought a knife to a gunfight)
- (idiomatic) To enter into aconfrontation or otherchallenging situation without beingadequatelyequipped orprepared.
1987,David Mamet,The Untouchables[1]:Isn't that just like a wop?Brings a knife to a gun fight.
1994,Gus Lee,China Boy[2],→ISBN, page310:That is why one should neverbring a knife to a gunfight, a worm should not challenge Godzilla, and a chump should never box a boxer.
2006,Jeff Edwards,Torpedo[3],→ISBN, page xiii:[W]e can shoot down missiles. . . . Our Kingfisher sonars can detect mines. . . . Our ships are hardened against chemical and biological weapons. But how do you stop a torpedo? . . . The best engineers in the business agree that nearly every class of torpedo currently being deployed has the capacity to sink one of our ships with a single shot. . . . [W]e are the poor bastards thatbrought a knife to a gunfight.
to be inadequately equipped
