brawl

1 of 2

verb

brawled; brawling; brawls

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 rapidsMarjory S. Douglas
brawler noun

brawl

2 of 2

noun

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 brawlJohn Burroughs

Examples of brawl in a Sentence

Verb Fans were brawling in the streets after the game. the Wilsons were always loudly brawling, and the neighbors were always shutting their windows Noun 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 on the Web
Verb
When Swayze’s Dalton arrives at the Double Deuce, the seedy joint he’s supposed to transform, the place is all brawling chaos (or, at least, the 1980s backlot version of it: an orgy of broken prop glass, corn-syrup blood, and stunt fights that look like stunt fights). Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 9 Mar. 2024 Though hopefully with cooler heads prevailing; artists were known for brawling at the bar and Pollock was barred briefly for ripping a bathroom door off its hinges and throwing it at the artist Franz Kline during a fight. Zachary Small, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2024 Now, Gude and his gaggle of anti-Scientology protesters are brawling publicly with the organization. Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2024 This came about a week after surveillance footage captured a group of migrants brawling with police in Times Square. Ben Brasch, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024 Recently, in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood, a ye-olde Tudor-style mansion at 770 Eastern Parkway made headlines when a group of young Hasidic men were filmed brawling with police after emerging, improbably, out of a homemade subterranean passageway in a basement shul. Adam Iscoe, The New Yorker, 22 Jan. 2024 On Wednesday's episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Denise, 52, and Erika, also 52, continued to brawl over an incident that occurred on the Bravo show in 2019, where Erika brought up the topic of threesomes at a barbecue where Denise's children were present. Esther Kang, Peoplemag, 4 Jan. 2024 The Miami police showed up in force to respond to a disturbance at a downtown open-air mall on New Year’s Day after reports of teens brawling and setting off fireworks, ultimately arresting four individuals between the ages of 14 and 16. Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 5 Jan. 2024 Throughout the holiday shopping season of 1983, desperate parents were lining up outside stores in freezing predawn temperatures, brawling in the aisles, and still leaving empty-handed. Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 20 Nov. 2023
Noun
Women’s college basketball: South Carolina won the S.E.C. tournament championship over L.S.U. The game had a brawl in the fourth quarter. David Leonhardt, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2024 His violent past emerges when a criminal gang threatens him, and the brawls and bloodshed escalate. Selome Hailu, Variety, 8 Mar. 2024 Multiple police agencies also responded last summer when a brawl among juveniles drew a massive crowd of underage onlookers. Doug Smith, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2024 Early that season, Benítez drew controversy after hitting the New York Yankees’ Tino Martinez with a pitch following a grand slam, which led to a benches-clearing brawl. Paul McCardell, Baltimore Sun, 7 Feb. 2024 There are five consecutive brawls in the final two minutes, including one involving both goalies. Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2024 The sanctuary policies have drawn intense backlash from conservatives in recent weeks following some high-profile incidents involving migrants, including a brawl with police and a shooting in Times Square. Natalie Kainz, NBC News, 28 Feb. 2024 Here’s the video of the fourth-quarter brawl between the Heat and Pelicans that led to the suspensions ... Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 26 Feb. 2024 The New York City Police Department on Sunday released a new photo of one of the more than a dozen suspects accused in a massive brawl near a Times Square migrant shelter where a 17-year-old was stabbed. Danielle Wallace, Fox News, 25 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'brawl.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English brawlen, brallen, of uncertain origin

Noun

Middle English braule, brall, noun derivative of brawlen "to brawl entry 1

First Known Use

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of brawl was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near brawl

Cite this Entry

“Brawl.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brawl. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

brawl

verb
ˈbrȯl
1
: to quarrel noisily : wrangle
2
: to make a loud confused noise
brawl noun
brawler noun

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