to square up

Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.

To put oneself in an attitude fit for boxing. Provincial in various parts of England.--Halliwell.


You will remember that Mr. Polk asserted that our title to Oregon was clear and unquestionable." Well, how was that settled? There were Polk and Cass fidgeting and squaring up to Queen Victona, one declaring that unless England or the United States backed out, war was "inevitable."--Speech at a Whig Meeting in Baltimore, June, 1848.

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