Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. of a person, violent, emotionally unrestrained.

1898		F.P. Dunne Mr Dooley in Peace and War 25: Gin’rals iv th’ r-rough-house kind, like Napoleon Bonypart.
1905		H. Green Actors’ Boarding House (1906) 80: Out you get. See? You will come tryin’ to be roughhouse, will you? Gimme them guns!
1906		S. Ford Shorty McCabe 156: Mr. Jarvis and me have had enough of your rough-house society.
1910		J. Ravenscroft ‘The Scrapper’s Revenge’ in El Paso Herald (TX) 13 July 14/5: [of juman speech] The whole roughhouse vocabulary / Was slung around the diamond until the very words were weary.
1929		Derby Dly Teleg. 30 May 6/1: Clara Bow in Rough-House Rosie.
1930		R.E. Howard ‘Champ of the Forecastle’ Fight Stories Nov. 🌐 I ain’t a clever boxer [...] but compared to such rough-house scrappers as Sven, I’m a wonder.
1936		(ref. to 1920s) L. Duncan Over the Wall 59: I learned quickly enough that he was ‘Oregon’ Jones, a roughhouse guy possessed of considerable wrestling ability.
1942		Hull Dly Mail 7 Apr. 4/6: I think the game [i.e. boxing] would be better off with some big roughhouse guys the likes of Gunboat Smith [...] and Jack Dempsey.
a.1948		(con. early 1930s) C. McKay Harlem Glory (1990) 87: ‘She likes to feel crazy [...]’ ‘She was rough-house, all right,’ said Buster.
1966		D. Niland Pairs and Loners 111: That scrousher, that rough-house annie, what’s she got so uppety about? See the kisser on it!
2009		R. Milward Ten Storey Love Song 177: [A]dapting her to his crap roughhouse shagging style.

2. usu. of a fight, lacking rules, unrestrained, ‘free-for-all’.

1907		W.M. Raine Wyoming (1908) 56: It’s going to be strictly according to Hoyle — no rough-house plays go.
1911		S. Ford Torchy 152: Is it a gen’ral rough-house number [...] or have the suffragettes broke loose again?
1933		J. Spenser Limey 68: We three and the other four were fighting all over the floor, slamming at one another, using knees, fists, feet, bottles, anything in the American ‘rough-house’ manner.
1941		G. Kersh They Die with Their Boots Clean 82: What is Unarmed Combat? Well, it’s nothing more or less than dirty, rough-house fighting.
1949		Dundee Courier 30 Dec. 2/6: Last night’s Kircaldy rink game was spoiled by penalties and rough-house tactics on both sides.
1950		Dundee Courier 3 Feb. 6/4: A rough-house second session spelt the end for the Falkirk club.
1966		P. Boyle At Night All Cats Are Grey 205: A queer bloody convent that. Where they teach you roughhouse methods instead of manners and deportment.
1979		‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie and Me 95: His father caved in his ribs during sadistic roughouse play when he was a willowy kid of ten.

3. of a place, or situation, tough, rough.

1916		J. Lait ‘Charlie the Wolf’ in Beef, Iron and Wine (1917) 47: The guns is mighty hungry an’ roughhouse this year.
1921		Dos Passos Three Soldiers 237: ‘It’s the end of the good old times,’ he said. ‘Damnation to the good old times,’ said Henslowe. ‘Here’s to the good old new roughhousy circus parades.’.
1935		W. Smith Bessie Cotter 177: Do you want them to think this is a rough-house establishment?
1936		Derby Dly Teleg. 21 May 16/4: The billiard table and a roughhouse room has long passed away.
1996		J. Byrell Lairs, Urgers & Coat-Tuggers 70: Now, there’ve naturally been some real bump’n’thump [Melbourne] Cups since 1861, but none much more roughhouse than this one.
2000		J.J. Connolly Layer Cake 250: An ol’ roughhouse boozer in County Kilburn.