1
: a combat between two persons
specifically
: a formal combat with weapons fought between two persons in the presence of witnesses
2
: a conflict between antagonistic persons, ideas, or forces
also
: a hard-fought contest between two opponents
dueled or duelled; dueling or duelling
: to fight a duel
: to encounter (an opponent) in a duel
dueler
noun
or dueller
Examples of duel in a Sentence
Noun
They engaged in a duel of wits.
a duel for the title of captain of the team
Verb
He accepted the challenge to duel.
Legislators dueled over the tax increases.
The two runners dueled for the lead.
Recent Examples on the Web
Michael Cox, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2025
Their duel is brutal and operatic, the culmination of years of tension between Cleonic brothers.
—Jp Mangalindan, Time, 12 Sep. 2025
Jeremy Lott, The Washington Examiner, 12 Sep. 2025
Swift was initially ensnared in the fight when Baldoni filed a dueling defamation lawsuit against Lively that included claims Swift was present during a pivotal meeting at Lively’s Tribeca penthouse that involved Lively’s efforts to make changes to the movie script.
—Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 12 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for duel
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Noun
The side two divisions above are better in every respect, most noticeably in one-against-one duels out wide.
—Michael Cox, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2025
Their duel is brutal and operatic, the culmination of years of tension between Cleonic brothers.
—Jp Mangalindan, Time, 12 Sep. 2025
Verb
That’s because there are two rival American inventors of the dishwasher, with dueling patents.
—Jeremy Lott, The Washington Examiner, 12 Sep. 2025
Swift was initially ensnared in the fight when Baldoni filed a dueling defamation lawsuit against Lively that included claims Swift was present during a pivotal meeting at Lively’s Tribeca penthouse that involved Lively’s efforts to make changes to the movie script.
—Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 12 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for duel
Cite this Entry
“Duel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/duel. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
duel
1 of 2 noun
du·el
ˈd(y)ü-əl 
1
: a combat between two persons
especially
: one fought with weapons in the presence of witnesses
2
: a conflict between two opponents
duel
2 of 2 verb
dueled or duelled; dueling or duelling
: to fight in a duel
dueler
noun
or dueller
Etymology
Noun
from Latin duellum "duel," from an archaic form of earlier bellum "war"; revived in the Middle Ages to mean combat between two persons because the du- suggested Latin duo "two"
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