skirmish
noun
skir·mish
| \ ˈskər-mish
\
\
Definition of skirmish
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: a minor fight in war usually incidental to larger movements
2a
: a brisk preliminary verbal conflict
b
: a minor dispute or contest between opposing parties
the debate touched off a skirmish
skirmish
verb
skirmished;
skirmishing;
skirmishes
Definition of skirmish (Entry 2 of 2)
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Synonyms for skirmish
Synonyms: Noun
brush, encounter, hassle, run-in, scrape
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Examples of skirmish in a Sentence
Noun
Skirmishes broke out between rebel groups. Violent skirmishes with the enemy continue despite talks of peace.Verb
Rebel groups are skirmishing with military forces. The presidential candidates skirmished over their economic plans.
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Despite a few skirmishes, no major bloody brawls or riots broke out in the streets, as happened during protests past. — oregonlive.com, "Fox News hosts contradict news reports and Ted Wheeler, claim Portland protests showed ‘antifa out of control’," 20 Aug. 2019 Long also got into a skirmish with defensive lineman Akiem Hicks earlier in the week on the final practice in Bourbonnais. — Colleen Kane, chicagotribune.com, "Kyle Long felt ‘immediate regret’ after his outburst during Bears practice: ‘I cost myself a lot of personal equity’," 20 Aug. 2019 The drama came when a minor skirmish broke out between players from Spain and Xavier. — Adam Baum, Cincinnati.com, "Xavier's Spanish voyage: Are the Musketeers returning a better team?," 15 Aug. 2019 Early on, the Country, as it was known, had some skirmishes with military police during an effort to place it off-limits to personnel. — Paula Allen, ExpressNews.com, "Controversial landmark property near downtown San Antonio didn’t excite preservationists," 10 Aug. 2019 Wu Assassins smartly tips its hat to The Raid by choosing to introduce viewers to Uwais at the beginning of just such a hallway skirmish. — Peter Rubin, WIRED, "Wu Assassins Gives Netflix New Footing in Streaming's Battle Royale," 8 Aug. 2019 Pakistan and India routinely blame each other for initiating border skirmishes. — Washington Post, "Security lockdown in place in Indian-controlled Kashmir," 5 Aug. 2019 Pakistan and India routinely accuse each other of initiating border skirmishes. — NBC News, "India's government revokes disputed Kashmir's special status," 5 Aug. 2019 Too much was made over the sideline skirmish with coaches at Houston to cap his college career. — Kyle Fredrickson, The Denver Post, "NFL Look-Ahead: Which new faces in new places will have biggest impact?," 1 July 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Lyric sites like Genius have skirmished with publishers over the past several years; Genius suggested that the reprints could be defended as fair use but ultimately struck deals with record labels. — Adi Robertson, The Verge, "Pandora is being sued for showing Tom Petty song lyrics," 18 June 2019 In recent months, the United States and its allies have skirmished with Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf region, where Iran has sought to impede the passage of commercial tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. — Erin Cunningham, Washington Post, "Iran’s Zarif says he was sanctioned after declining an invitation to the White House," 5 Aug. 2019 The words were emblazoned beneath an image of the cannon on a battle flag flown at the Battle of Gonzalez where Mexican dragoons skirmished unsuccessfully with the Texian rebels to decide the matter. — Myke Cole, The New Republic, "The Sparta Fetish Is a Cultural Cancer," 1 Aug. 2019 In battle royale games like Fortnite, players skirmish in a shrinking landscape with one goal: to be the last one standing. — Jason M. Bailey, New York Times, "Fortnite Drew Imitators to Survival Games. Who Will Be the Last One Standing?," 30 July 2019 As drug companies skirmished over intellectual property, 24 million people got sicker. — Katherine Eban, Quartz India, "How an Indian tycoon fought Big Pharma to sell AIDS drugs for $1 a day," 15 July 2019 Laurie Wells portrays her exasperated mom, Katherine, trying to prepare for the wedding and a fashion-magazine photo shoot while verbally skirmishing with Ellie. — Don Aucoin, BostonGlobe.com, "An enjoyable tale of transformation in North Shore Music Theatre’s ‘Freaky Friday’," 15 July 2019 Officials have skirmished over foreign washing machines and Canadian softwood lumber imports. — The Economist, "America is deploying a new economic arsenal to assert its power," 6 June 2019 Armed separatists have skirmished with road workers and the military, which is now overseeing highway construction. — Jennifer Smith, WSJ, "Today’s Logistics Report: Shrinking Japan’s Fleet; Squeezing the Grocers; Highway Dividing Lines," 8 Mar. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'skirmish.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for skirmish
skirmish
noun
English Language Learners Definition of skirmish
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a brief and usually unplanned fight during a war
: a minor or brief argument or disagreement
skirmish
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of skirmish (Entry 2 of 2)
: to be involved in a skirmish
See the full definition for skirmish in the English Language Learners Dictionary
skirmish
noun
skir·mish
| \ ˈskər-mish
\
\
Kids Definition of skirmish
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: a minor fight in war
2
: a minor argument
skirmish
verb
skirmished;
skirmishing
Kids Definition of skirmish (Entry 2 of 2)