battle

battle

battle¹ [bat′'l]

n.

[ME & OFr bataille < VL battalia < L battualia, exercises of gladiators and soldiers in fighting and fencing < battuere: see BATTER¹]

1. a fight, esp. a large-scale engagement, between armed forces on land, at sea, or in the air

2. armed fighting; combat or war

3. any fight or struggle; conflict

4. Archaic a battalion

vt.

battled, battling

to oppose as in a battle; fight

vi.

1. to take part in a battle; fight

2. to struggle; contend

——————

give battle or do battle

to engage in battle; fight

battler

n.

SYN.- BATTLE¹ denotes a conflict between armed forces in a war and implies a large-scale, prolonged contest over a particular area; ENGAGEMENT, the more formal term, stresses the actual meeting of opposing forces, with no restrictive connotation as to duration; a CAMPAIGN is a series of military operations with a particular objective and may involve a number of battles; ENCOUNTER usually suggests a chance meeting of hostile forces; SKIRMISH refers to a brief, light encounter between small detachments; ACTION stresses the detailed operations of active fighting [killed in action]; COMBAT, the most general of these terms, simply implies armed fighting, without further qualification

battle² [bat′'l]

vt.

battled, battling

Archaic to build battlements on