duel

1 of 3

noun (1)

du·​el ˈdü-əl 

also ˈdyü-

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

2 of 3

verb

dueled or duelled; dueling or duelling

intransitive verb

: to fight a duel

transitive verb

: to encounter (an opponent) in a duel

dueler noun

or dueller

duelist noun

or duellist

ˈd(y)ü-ə-list 

duelist

3 of 3

noun (2)

du·​el·​ist

variants or duellist

ˈd(y)üə̇lə̇st 

-u̇ə̇-

plural -s

: one who engages in duels

Synonyms of duel

Noun (1)

• rivalry
• battle
• struggle
• competition
• confrontation
• warfare
• war
• conflict
• contention

Examples of duel in a Sentence

Noun (1)

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

Noun

When an ingenious serial killer begins murdering Minneapolis citizens, Davenport, a brilliant polymath and unconventional investigator, takes the case, sparking an intense psychological duel with an equally intelligent adversary. — Denise Petski, Deadline, 22 Oct. 2026

Snell opened the seventh by walking Andrew Vaughn and losing an 11-pitch duel to Bauers, who won the battle with a two-run homer. — Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026

Verb

Show more For the second time in just over a week, Ken Paxton and James Talarico were on opposite sides of the same city at dueling rallies Tuesday evening in the western Texas city of Lubbock. — New York Times, 28 Oct. 2026

There were eight players within three shots of the lead heading into the final round, but ultimately, the Tour let 54-hole co-leaders Austin Smotherman and Seamus Power duel it out in a Monday playoff at Port Royal. — Mark Harris Outkick, FOXNews.com, 26 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, from Medieval Latin duellum, from Old Latin, war

First Known Use

Noun (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

circa 1645, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Rhymes for duel

• accrual
• nonfuel
• refuel
• renewal
• biofuel
• contextual
• nonrenewal
• nonsexual
• unusual
• cruel
• dual
• fuel

Kids 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

duelist noun

or duellist

ˈd(y)ü-ə-ləst 

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"