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
James Pearce, New York Times, 2 Nov. 2025
Much like the classic Tom Brady-Peyton Manning duels of old, the quarterback matchup between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen — the two current MVP frontrunners — is can’t-miss television.
—Pete Sweeney, Kansas City Star, 30 Oct. 2025
Isabelle Friedman, Boston Herald, 26 Oct. 2025
The dueling histories and differing vibes are a good reminder that, at this point of the season, both teams are stacked with talent.
—Joe Kozlowski, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for duel
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Noun
The return from injury of Gravenberch, who won six of his eight duels, was another welcome sight, along with Alexis Mac Allister completing 90 minutes for Liverpool for the first time since April.
—James Pearce, New York Times, 2 Nov. 2025
Much like the classic Tom Brady-Peyton Manning duels of old, the quarterback matchup between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen — the two current MVP frontrunners — is can’t-miss television.
—Pete Sweeney, Kansas City Star, 30 Oct. 2025
Verb
Many federal workers missed their first full paycheck Friday since the shutdown began after the Senate on Thursday rejected dueling partisan bills to pay federal workers during the government shutdown.
—Isabelle Friedman, Boston Herald, 26 Oct. 2025
The dueling histories and differing vibes are a good reminder that, at this point of the season, both teams are stacked with talent.
—Joe Kozlowski, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Oct. 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 3 Nov. 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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