мамаево побоище

• МАМАЕВО ПОБОИЩЕ occas. humor

[NP; sing only; fixed WO]

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1. a heated, uncontrolled, and often violent quarrel or fight (in which one side clearly defeats the other):

- brawl;

- fracas. Cf. donnybrook.

2. large-scale layoffs, dismissals, expulsions etc:

- mass firings (expulsions etc);

|| X устроил мамаево побоище{{}}≈ X purged the place (the department etc).

     ♦ Новый управляющий устроил настоящее мамаево побоище: уволил двух своих заместителей, заменил почти всех начальников отделов и вынудил главного инженера уйти на пенсию. The new director purged the place: he fired two of his assistant directors, replaced almost all of the department heads, and forced the chief engineer into retirement.

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← From the name of the Tartar khan Mamai, defeated by the Russians in 1380 on the Kulikovo Field.