scrimmage

English

Etymology

A corruption of skirmish.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈskɹɪmɪdʒ/

• Audio (RP):

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˈskɹɪmədʒ/
• Rhymes: -ɪmɪdʒ

Noun

scrimmage (plural scrimmages)

1. A rough fight.

   get caught up in a scrimmage

   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, chapter 47

     There was an instant of complete silence, but when Tough Bill threw himself on Strickland the lust of battle seized them all, and in a moment there was a confused scrimmage. Tables were overturned, glasses crashed to the ground.

2. (US) In some team sports, especially soccer, a practice game which does not count on a team's record.
3. In American football or Canadian football, a play that begins with a snap from the center while opposing teams are on either side of a line of scrimmage.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:fight

Translations

rough fight

• Bulgarian: боричкане (bg) n (boričkane)
• Dutch: schermutseling (nl)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Finnish: tappelu (fi), nujakka

practice game — see exhibition game

play that begins with a snap

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Bulgarian: меле (bg) n (mele)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} de bal in de 'scrimmage' plaatsen
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Verb

scrimmage (third-person singular simple present scrimmages, present participle scrimmaging, simple past and past participle scrimmaged)

1. To have, or be involved in, a scrimmage.
   • 2019, Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys, Fleet, page 45:

     Elwood caught sight of a football field where some boys scrimmaged and yelped.

   #:

   We scrimmaged a few times and then settled into boring drills.