From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpugilistpu‧gi‧lis‧t /ˈpjuːdʒɪlɪst/ noun [countable] old-fashioned formalDSO a boxer —pugilism noun [uncountable] —pugilistic /ˌpjuːdʒəˈlɪstɪk◂/ adjective
Examples from the Corpus
pugilist• His adversaries include still more cossacks, a border guard or two, a rabbi, and a pugilist.• Marjorie puts up her fists like a pugilist, groans and pushes him away.• There was a long-standing tradition of professionalism, which centred around jockeys and pugilists for the most part.• Each pugilist has three statistics, displayed via a bar system.• Each of the three men who were about to become my putative godfathers was a former pugilist. 