brawl

play

verb \ ˈbrȯl \

Definition of brawl

intransitive verb

1 :to quarrel or fight noisily :wrangle

soccer fans brawling in the streets

2 :to make a loud confused noise

the Miami river … brawled over 25 feet of rapids
—Marjory S. Douglas

—

brawler

noun

See brawl defined for English-language learners

See brawl defined for kids

Examples of brawl in a Sentence

Fans were brawling in the streets after the game.
the Wilsons were always loudly brawling, and the neighbors were always shutting their windows

Recent Examples of brawl from the Web

Some (Merida, Pocahontas, Mulan) are better armed than others, but even Cinderella cracks her glass slipper into a jagged edge and is ready to brawl.

— joanna robinson, HWD, "Everything You Need to Know About Disney and Pixar’s Dazzling New Slate," 14 July 2017
Among the nearly two dozen union staffers named in the warrant were two who were with Dougherty last year when the labor leader brawled with a nonunion electrician at a job site in South Philadelphia.

— nancy phillips, Philly.com, "FBI digs deep in probe of Dougherty and union," 1 July 2017
When officers arrived, most of the people brawling dispersed.

— david hernandez, sandiegouniontribune.com, "2 men stabbed during street brawl in City Heights," 27 June 2017
ATLANTA (AP) — San Francisco Giants pitcher Hunter Strickland began serving a six-game suspension Monday for brawling with Bryce Harper after his appeal was denied by John McHale, Jr., a special assistant to baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred.

— paul newberry, The Seattle Times, "MLB upholds Strickland’s 6-game suspension for Harper brawl," 19 June 2017
MLB upholds Strickland's 6-game suspension for Harper brawl San Francisco Giants pitcher Hunter Strickland began serving a six-game suspension for brawling with Bryce Harper after his appeal was denied by Major League Baseball.

— sacbee, sacbee.com, "Sports Night: Granger leaves Kings," 19 June 2017
MLB upholds Strickland's 6-game suspension for Harper brawl San Francisco Giants pitcher Hunter Strickland began serving a six-game suspension for brawling with Bryce Harper after his appeal was denied by Major League Baseball.

— sacbee, "Sports Night: Granger leaves Kings," 19 June 2017
Other recent confrontations involving airlines have stoked outrage: pilots hitting passengers and passengers brawling with each other and police.

— cleve r. wootson jr., chicagotribune.com, "United tried to get a musician to check her 17th-century violin. A 'wrestling match' ensued.," 7 June 2017
All five brawled in and around the ring, using chairs and stairs liberally.

— aaron oster, baltimoresun.com, "Extreme Rules: Samoa Joe leaves Baltimore as the No. 1 contender," 5 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'brawl.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of brawl

Middle English brawlen, brallen, of uncertain origin

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year

brawl Synonyms

Synonyms

altercate, argufy, bicker, brabble, argue, controvert, dispute, fall out, fight, hassle, jar, quarrel, quibble, row, scrap, spat, squabble, tiff, wrangle

Related Words

challenge, dare, defy; clash, contend, contest, tangle; cavil, fuss, nitpick; consider, debate, discuss; kick, object, protest

Near Antonyms

coexist, get along; accept, agree, assent, concur, consent

brawl

noun

Definition of brawl

1 :a noisy quarrel or fight

a brawl broke out among the fans

a barroom brawl

2 :a loud tumultuous noise

the spring run became quite a trout brook and its tiny murmur a loud brawl
—John Burroughs

Examples of brawl in a Sentence

they were thrown out of the party after starting a brawl
the student drama society's decision to put on the controversial play prompted a brawl at the school board meeting

Recent Examples of brawl from the Web

Travis Kalanick’s resignation is continuing to rile Uber, where a boardroom brawl for control of the leaderless $70 billion company has erupted into a corporate civil war.

— maya kosoff, The Hive, "A Major Uber Investor Is Allegedly Trying to Oust Arianna Huffington," 16 Aug. 2017
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency as brawls between white nationalists and counter-protesters broke out in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday.

— elizabeth marie himchak, Rancho Bernardo, "Peters denounces racists, violence, President Trump and GOP actions," 16 Aug. 2017
The ride-hailing company is in exclusive talks to line up funding from four investors, but a deal, which could reach as much as $12 billion, hangs on the outcome of a courtroom brawl between Travis Kalanick and Benchmark.

— yuji nakamura, Fortune, "Bitcoin’s Next Battle May Already Be Looming," 16 Aug. 2017
Manana was filmed being involved in a night-club brawl in Johannesburg on Aug. 5 in which a woman was allegedly assaulted.

— sam mkokeli, Bloomberg.com, "Zuma Considers Dropping Minister Zwane If He Wins Vote," 8 Aug. 2017
That was followed by last Saturday’s affair, where Jermaine Jones of the Galaxy nearly sparked an on-field brawl with a vicious slide tackle from behind on Lodeiro late in the first half.

— geoff baker, The Seattle Times, "Brian Schmetzer, Sounders express concern over ‘targeting’ of their offensive players," 4 Aug. 2017
In 2000, following a Super Bowl game, Lewis and his entourage engaged in drunken brawl.

— michael powell, New York Times, "Colin Kaepernick and Concussions Continue to Pose Problems for N.F.L.," 2 Aug. 2017
Perhaps even putative senator Kid Rock, who once got into a brawl at a Waffle House , which is certainly some sort of peak American experience.

— lang whitaker, GQ, "Waffle House Is America," 19 July 2017
Naperville firefighters, for example, assisted the village of Plainfield when a freight train derailed on June 30 and Naperville police stepped in to help Aurora on Dec. 26 when a brawl broke out at the Fox Valley Mall.

— bill bird, Naperville Sun, "Naperville, Aurora to share $1.4M grant for terrorist attack training," 19 July 2017