Idiom of the day :- To enter the lists

Usage, examples and definition of the Idiom :-

In days of old when knights were bold, the arenas in which they held tournaments were called lists. From that, to enter the lists means to begin a competition, a contest – or an argument ! ‘Unless you are prepared to enter the lists and play as well as you can, you have no business being on this team,’ the football coach said to his players.