duel
noun
\
Definition of duel
(Entry 1 of 2)
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
duel
verbDefinition of duel (Entry 2 of 2)
: to fight a duel
: to encounter (an opponent) in a duel
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Other words from duel
Verb
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noun
Synonyms for duel
Synonyms: Noun
ball game, battle, combat, competition, conflict, confrontation, contention, contest, dogfight, face-off, grapple, match, rivalry, strife, struggle, sweepstakes (also sweep-stake), tug-of-war, war, warfare
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Examples of duel in a Sentence
Noun
They engaged in a duel of wits. a duel for the title of captain of the teamVerb
He accepted the challenge to duel. Legislators dueled over the tax increases. The two runners dueled for the lead.
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
That the promise of another Nadal-Federer Wimbledon final, another unforgettable duel a decade later, is very, very real? — Sean Gregory, Time, "This Year's Wimbledon Could Give Tennis Fans Another Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal Classic," 29 June 2018 To settle the score, New Yorkers are calling for a duel—a modern day clash of North meets South. — Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, "WATCH: New York and Tennessee Are Battling over the Right to Claim Long Island Iced Tea as Their Own," 12 June 2018 In the longest outing of her career, Auburn softball ace Kaylee Carlson won a 12-inning duel and Tannon Snow provided the only offense. — James Crepea, AL.com, "Auburn softball beats Kentucky on walk-off home run by Tannon Snow behind gem from Kaylee Carlson," 24 Mar. 2018 So, with a .947 save percentage over three-plus games, plus winning a goalie duel with Carter Hart, the Winterhawks Player of the Week for 3/5 through 3/11 is Cole Kehler His third time this season. — Dylan Bumbarger, OregonLive.com, "Winterhawks Player of the Week: Cole Kehler," 12 Mar. 2018 The Green Wave won the pitcher's duel to improve to 7-7 while the Boilermakers fell to 8-3. — NOLA.com, "Purdue evens series, beats Tulane 12-8," 10 Mar. 2018 That led to a restart, after which Ryan Blaney took the lead to win the first duel. — Brendan Marks, charlotteobserver, "Daytona 500 favorites crash out, Danica Patrick plays it safe as race qualifying ends," 15 Feb. 2018 Look for leading rider Brian Hernandez Jr. to sit off a potential duel on the front end and get this daughter of Majestic Warrior back to the winner's circle for trainer Allen Milligan. — Scott Shapiro, The Courier-Journal, "Twinspires.com's expert pick for Sunday's races at Churchill Downs," 23 June 2018 In his wrestling heyday in the 1990s and early 2000s, Vader was a WCW champion and had famous duels with the Undertaker and Kane in the WWE. — Matt Young, Houston Chronicle, "Former professional wrestling star Vader dead at 63," 20 June 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
In the late 18th century, there was no one more associated with flintlock dueling pistols than Robert Wogdon. — Matt Blitz, Popular Mechanics, "Duels, Blood, And Politics: The Little-Known History of the Gun That Killed Alexander Hamilton," 6 June 2018 The Georgia gubernatorial race will be among the first tests of these dueling schools of thought, with the winning strategy likely to be adopted by Democrats in other states. — Amelia Harnish, refinery29.com, "May The Best Stacey Win: Why The Georgia Primary Is So Important," 22 May 2018 Mimi Bradley, Arrowhead The pitcher on the other side of the field that has out-dueled Anderson in their teams’ two meetings? Mimi Bradley. — Curt Hogg, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Softball playoffs preview: Arrowhead leads a pitching-packed sectional," 21 May 2018 More: After out-dueling Truex Jr., is there any stopping Kevin Harvick? — Randy Covitz, USA TODAY, "Kevin Harvick on record single-season victory pace: Winning is 'addicting'," 13 May 2018 The dueling efforts pit Police Chief Bill Scott, who has been overseeing a slate of reforms since taking command in January 2017, against the department rank-and-file and Mayor Mark Farrell, a longtime union ally. — Evan Sernoffsky, San Francisco Chronicle, "Long fight over San Francisco cops carrying Tasers heats up again," 13 Mar. 2018 Women's singles ice skating (Starts at 8 p.m.) Russia's Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva are expected to duel for the gold medal after putting together perfect skates to earn silver in the team event. — Chris Chavez, SI.com, "Tuesday Olympic Daily Digest: Could the U.S. Men's Hockey Team Medal?," 20 Feb. 2018 Daguerreotype photos, dueling pistols and rare marine species—including, coincidentally, gold coral—were discovered in the wreck. — Karla Zabludovsky, Newsweek, "Sunken Ship Laden With Gold Lures Treasure Hunters – Again," 19 Mar. 2014 Reporters and editors used to fight — even duel — among themselves. — Michael S. Rosenwald, Washington Post, "Angry mobs, deadly duels, presses set on fire: A history of attacks on the press," 29 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'duel.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for duel
duel
noun
English Language Learners Definition of duel
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a fight between two people that includes the use of weapons (such as guns or swords) and that usually happens while other people watch
: a situation in which two people or groups argue or compete with each other
duel
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of duel (Entry 2 of 2)
: to fight with someone using weapons (such as guns or swords) while other people watch
: to compete or argue with someone
See the full definition for duel in the English Language Learners Dictionary
duel
noun
ˈdyü- \
Kids Definition of duel
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : a fight between two persons especially that is fought by agreement with weapons in front of other people
2 : a contest between two opponents The ball game turned into a pitching duel.
duel
verbKids Definition of duel (Entry 2 of 2)
: to take part in an agreed-upon fight with weapons
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