battle

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

[edit] English

[edit] Alternative forms

• batail (14th - 16th centuries)

[edit] Etymology

From Old French bataille (French bataille), from Proto-Romance *battālia, from Latin battuālia (“‘fighting and fencing exercises of soldiers and gladiators’”), from battuō (“‘strike, beat’”).

[edit] Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈbatəl/
• (US) IPA: /ˈbædəl/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

  Rhymes: -ætəl

• Hyphenation: bat‧tle

[edit] Noun

battle (plural battles)

1. A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; an engagement; a combat.
2. A struggle; a contest; as, the battle of life.

   The whole intellectual battle that had at its center the best poem of the best poet of that day. - Henry Morley.

3. (obsolete) A division of an army; a battalion.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book II:

     Thenne kyng Arthur made redy his hoost in x batails [...].

   The king divided his army into three battles. - Francis Bacon.

   The cavalry, by way of distinction, was called the battle, and on it alone depended the fate of every action. - William Robertson.

4. (obsolete) The main body, as distinct from the van and rear; battalia.

[edit] Usage notes

• Battle can be used as the first part of a self-explaining compound; as, battle brand, a ``brand or sword used in battle; battle cry; battlefield; battle ground; battlearray; battle song.
• Battle, combat, fight, engagement: These words agree in denoting a close encounter between contending parties. Fight is a word of less dignity than the others. Except in poetry, it is more naturally applied to the encounter of a few individuals, and more commonly an accidental one; as, a street fight. A combat is a close encounter, whether between few or many, and is usually premeditated. A battle is commonly more general and prolonged. An engagement supposes large numbers on each side, engaged or intermingled in the conflict.
  (material dates from 1913)

[edit] Synonyms

• conflict
• encounter
• contest
• action

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Translations

[edit] Verb

to battle (third-person singular simple present battles, present participle battling, simple past and past participle battled)

1. (intransitive): To join in battle; to contend in fight; as, to battle over theories.
2. (transitive): To assail in battle; to fight.

[edit] Translations

[edit] References

• battle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

[edit] Anagrams

• Alphagram: abeltt
• tablet