skirmish

English

Alternative forms

• scirmish

Etymology

From Middle English skirmish (as a verb), from Old French escarmouche (“skirmish”), from Italian scaramuccia, earlier schermugio. Doublet of escarmouche and Scaramouche.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈskɜːmɪʃ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈskɝmɪʃ/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)mɪʃ
• Hyphenation: skir‧mish

Noun

skirmish (plural skirmishes)

1. (military) A brief battle between small groups, usually part of a longer or larger battle or war.
   • 1970 April 28, “Chen Pao Battle and Subsequent Threat Campaign”, in The Evolution of Soviet Policy in the Sino-Soviet Border Dispute‎^[1], Directorate of Intelligence, published 2007, →OCLC, page 34:

     On 2 March, Chinese border guards with the help of regular PLA forces skillfully ambushed Strelnikov's unit on the ice near Chen Pao, killing him and 30 Soviets in the subsequent skirmish.

2. (figuratively, by extension) Any minor dispute.

   Three people were arrested after a skirmish in a bar.

3. A type of outdoor military style game using paintball or similar weapons.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:fight
• See also Thesaurus:dispute

Related terms

• screen

Translations

brief battle between small groups

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Azerbaijani: toqquşma (az)
• Belarusian: суты́чка f (sutýčka), схва́тка f (sxvátka), бо́йка f (bójka), перастрэ́лка f (pjerastrélka) (with shooting)
• Bulgarian: схва́тка (bg) f (shvátka)
• Catalan: escaramussa f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 小衝突／小冲突 (siu² cong¹ dak⁶)

  Mandarin: 小衝突／小冲突 (zh) (xiǎo chōngtū), 衝突／冲突 (zh) (chōngtū, chōngtú)

• Czech: půtka (cs) f, šarvátka f
• Dutch: schermutseling (nl) f
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Estonian: jagelus
• Finnish: kahakka (fi), välikohtaus (fi), yhteenotto (fi), rytäkkä, kahina (fi), kahnaus
• French: escarmouche (fr) f, échauffourée (fr) f

  Middle French: escarmouche f

  Old French: escharmuche f

• Galician: escaramuza (gl) f
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Scharmützel (de) n, Geplänkel (de) n
• Hindi: झड़प (hi) f (jhaṛap)
• Hungarian: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: schermaglia (it) f, scaramuccia (it) f
• Japanese: 小競り合い (ja) (kozeriai)
• Latin: praecursiō (la) f
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: пре́сметка f (présmetka), пре́стрелка f (préstrelka) (with shooting)
• Maori: riringa, kekeritanga, taute
• Polish: potyczka (pl) f
• Portuguese: escaramuça (pt) f
• Romanian: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: сты́чка (ru) f (stýčka), схва́тка (ru) f (sxvátka), перестре́лка (ru) f (perestrélka) (with shooting)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ча̑рка f

  Roman: čȃrka (sh) f

• Spanish: escaramuza (es) f, (Latin America) enfrentamiento (es), refriega (es)
• Swedish: skärmytsling (sv) c
• Tagalog: sagupaan
• Turkish: çatışma (tr), çarpışma (tr)
• Ukrainian: су́тичка f (sútyčka), бі́йка (uk) f (bíjka), спо́тичка f (spótyčka), перестрі́лка f (perestrílka) (with shooting)

minor dispute

• Azerbaijani: toqquşma (az)
• Belarusian: суты́чка f (sutýčka)
• Bulgarian: караница (bg) f (karanica)
• Catalan: escaramussa f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 口角 (hau² gok³), 小爭論／小争论 (siu² zang¹ leon⁶)

• Czech: šarvátka f
• Dutch: schermutseling (nl) f
• Finnish: suukopu (fi), välikohtaus (fi), yhteenotto (fi), nahistelu (fi), jupakka (fi), kina (fi), kinastelu (fi), riita (fi), sanasota (fi), kiista (fi)
• French: escarmouche (fr) f
• Galician: escaramuza (gl) f
• German: Wortgeplänkel (de) n, Auseinandersetzung (de) f
• Hindi: झड़प (hi) f (jhaṛap), टकराव (hi) m (ṭakrāv)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} schermaglia (it) f
• Japanese: 小競り合い (ja) (kozeriai)
• Macedonian: пре́сметка f (présmetka), су́дир m (súdir)
• Polish: potyczka (pl) f, utarczka f
• Portuguese: briguinha f
• Russian: сты́чка (ru) f (stýčka)
• Spanish: escaramuza (es) f, berrinche (es) m
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} skärmytsling (sv) c
• Ukrainian: су́тичка f (sútyčka), спо́тичка f (spótyčka)

Verb

skirmish (third-person singular simple present skirmishes, present participle skirmishing, simple past and past participle skirmished)

1. To engage in a minor battle or dispute.
   • 2019, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Children of Ruin, Macmillan, page 376:

     Other historians might also remark that […] they have persisted all this time, constantly wrestling and skirmishing and yet never destroying themselves.

Translations

to engage in a minor battle or dispute

• Azerbaijani: toqquşmaq (az)
• Catalan: escaramussar (ca)
• Dutch: schermutselen (nl)
• Finnish: kahakoida, nahistella (fi)
• French: escarmoucher (fr)
• Galician: escaramuzar (gl)
• Japanese: 小競り合いをする (ja) (kozeriai wo suru)
• Latin: vēlitor
• Macedonian: се пре́смета pf (se présmeta), се пресме́тува impf (se presmétuva)
• Portuguese: escaramuçar (pt)
• Serbo-Croatian: čarkati (sh)
• Spanish: escaramuzar (es)