Affray

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Affray \Af*fray"\, v. t. [p. p. {Affrayed}.] [OE. afraien,
     affraien, OF. effreer, esfreer, F. effrayer, orig. to
     disquiet, put out of peace, fr. L. ex + OHG. fridu peace
     (akin to E. free). Cf. {Afraid}, {Fray}, {Frith} inclosure.]
     [Archaic]
     1. To startle from quiet; to alarm.


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              Smale foules a great heap
              That had afrayed [affrayed] me out of my sleep.
                                                    --Chaucer.
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     2. To frighten; to scare; to frighten away.
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              That voice doth us affray.            --Shak.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Affray \Af*fray"\, n. [OE. afrai, affrai, OF. esfrei, F. effroi,
     fr. OF. esfreer. See {Affray}, v. t.]
     1. The act of suddenly disturbing any one; an assault or
        attack. [Obs.]
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     2. Alarm; terror; fright. [Obs.] --Spenser.
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     3. A tumultuous assault or quarrel; a brawl; a fray. "In the
        very midst of the affray." --Motley.
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     4. (Law) The fighting of two or more persons, in a public
        place, to the terror of others. --Blackstone.
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     Note: A fighting in private is not, in a legal sense, an
           affray.
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     Syn: Quarrel; brawl; scuffle; encounter; fight; contest;
          feud; tumult; disturbance.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  affray
       n 1: noisy quarrel [syn: {altercation}, {fracas}]
       2: a noisy fight [syn: {disturbance}, {fray}, {ruffle}]