Battle

7 definitions found

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

  Battle \Bat"tle\, a.
     Fertile. See {Battel}, a. [Obs.]
     [1913 Webster]

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



  Battle \Bat"tle\, n. [OE. bataille, bataile, F. bataille battle,
     OF., battle, battalion, fr. L. battalia, battualia, the
     fighting and fencing exercises of soldiers and gladiators,
     fr. batuere to strike, beat. Cf. {Battalia}, 1st {Battel},
     and see {Batter}, v. t. ]
     1. A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the
        divisions of an army are or may be engaged; an engagement;
        a combat.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A struggle; a contest; as, the battle of life.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The whole intellectual battle that had at its center
              the best poem of the best poet of that day. --H.
                                                    Morley.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A division of an army; a battalion. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The king divided his army into three battles.
                                                    --Bacon.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The cavalry, by way of distinction, was called the
              battle, and on it alone depended the fate of every
              action.                               --Robertson.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. The main body, as distinct from the van and rear;
        battalia. [Obs.] --Hayward.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Battle is used adjectively or as the first part of a
           self-explaining compound; as, battle brand, a "brand"
           or sword used in battle; battle cry; battlefield;
           battle ground; battle array; battle song.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     {Battle piece}, a painting, or a musical composition,
        representing a battle.
  
     {Battle royal}.
        (a) A fight between several gamecocks, where the one that
            stands longest is the victor. --Grose.
        (b) A contest with fists or cudgels in which more than two
            are engaged; a m[^e]l['e]e. --Thackeray.
  
     {Drawn battle}, one in which neither party gains the victory.
        
  
     {To give battle}, to attack an enemy.
  
     {To join battle}, to meet the attack; to engage in battle.
  
     {Pitched battle}, one in which the armies are previously
        drawn up in form, with a regular disposition of the
        forces.
  
     {Wager of battle}. See under {Wager}, n.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: Conflict; encounter; contest; action.
  
     Usage: {Battle}, {Combat}, {Fight}, {Engagement}. These words
            agree in denoting a close encounter between contending
            parties. Fight is a word of less dignity than the
            others. Except in poetry, it is more naturally applied
            to the encounter of a few individuals, and more
            commonly an accidental one; as, a street fight. A
            combat is a close encounter, whether between few or
            many, and is usually premeditated. A battle is
            commonly more general and prolonged. An engagement
            supposes large numbers on each side, engaged or
            intermingled in the conflict.
            [1913 Webster]

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

  Battle \Bat"tle\ (b[a^]t"t'l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Battled}
     (-tl'd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Battling}.] [F. batailler, fr.
     bataille. See {Battle}, n.]
     To join in battle; to contend in fight; as, to battle over
     theories.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           To meet in arms, and battle in the plain. --Prior.
     [1913 Webster]

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

  Battle \Bat"tle\, v. t.
     To assail in battle; to fight.
     [1913 Webster] Battle-ax

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  battle
       n 1: a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course
            of a war; "Grant won a decisive victory in the battle of
            Chickamauga"; "he lost his romantic ideas about war when
            he got into a real engagement" [syn: {conflict}, {fight},
             {engagement}]
       2: an energetic attempt to achieve something; "getting through
          the crowd was a real struggle"; "he fought a battle for
          recognition" [syn: {struggle}]
       3: an open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals);
          "the harder the conflict the more glorious the
          triumph"--Thomas Paine; "police tried to control the
          battle between the pro- and anti-abortion mobs" [syn: {conflict},
           {struggle}]
       v : battle or contend against in or as if in a battle; "The
           Kurds are combating Iraqi troops in Nothern Iraq"; "We
           must combat the prejudices against other races"; "they
           battled over the budget" [syn: {combat}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  211 Moby Thesaurus words for "battle":
     Actium, Adrianople, Aegates Isles, Aegospotami, Agincourt,
     Antietam, Anzio, Arbela-Gaugamela, Ardennes, Austerlitz, Ayacucho,
     Balaclava, Bannockburn, Bataan-Corregidor, Bismarck Sea, Blenheim,
     Bosworth Field, Bouvines, Boyne, Brunanburh, Bunker Hill, Cannae,
     Caporetto, Chancellorsville, Crecy, Dunkirk, El Alamein, Flodden,
     Fontenoy, Fredericksburg, Gaza, Gettysburg, Granicus River,
     Guadalcanal, Hampton Roads, Hastings, Hohenlinden, Inchon,
     Long Island, Marathon, Midway, Poitiers, Sedan, Singapore,
     Solferino, Waterloo, action, aerial combat, affray, agonize,
     all-out war, altercation, antagonize, appeal to arms, argument,
     arm, armed combat, armed conflict, armor, armor-plate,
     armored combat, assail, assault, attack, bank, barricade,
     battle royal, beat against, beat up against, belligerence,
     belligerency, blockade, bloodshed, bombard, box, brawl,
     breast the wave, broil, brush, buck, buffet, buffet the waves,
     bullfight, bulwark, campaign, carry on hostilities, castellate,
     clash, clash of arms, close, close with, cockfight, collide,
     combat, come to blows, compete with, competition, conflict,
     contend, contend against, contest, crenellate, crusade,
     cut and thrust, dig in, dispute, dogfight, duel, embattle,
     embroilment, encounter, engage in hostilities, engagement,
     entrench, exchange blows, exchange of blows, fence, feud, fight,
     fight a duel, fight against, fighting, fire fight, fortify, fracas,
     fray, garrison, give and take, give satisfaction, grapple,
     grapple with, ground combat, grunt and sweat, hand-to-hand combat,
     hand-to-hand fight, hassle, hostilities, hot war,
     house-to-house combat, huff and puff, join battle with, jostle,
     joust, la guerre, labor against, make war, man, man the garrison,
     melee, might of arms, military operations, militate against, mine,
     mix it up, naval combat, offer resistance, onset, onslaught,
     open hostilities, open war, oppugn, palisade, passage of arms,
     pitched battle, quarrel, rassle, reluct, reluctate, resort to arms,
     riot, rival, rumble, run a tilt, running fight, scramble,
     scrimmage, scuffle, shed blood, shooting war, shoving match,
     skirmish, sortie, spar, spill blood, stand-up fight, state of war,
     stem the tide, street fight, strive, strive against, struggle,
     struggle against, take on, tauromachy, the sword, thrust and parry,
     tilt, total war, tourney, tug, tug-of-war, tussle, vie with,
     wage war, wall, war, warfare, warmaking, warring, wartime,
     wrestle
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  BATTLE, n.  A method of untying with the teeth of a political knot
  that would not yield to the tongue.