duel

1 of 2

noun

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 2

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 

Synonyms of duel

Noun

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

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

Noun

Miley won eight of his 10 ground duels and one of his three in the air. —Chris Waugh, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026

This should also be a great quarterback duel between Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza and redshirt junior Ty Simpson. —Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 31 Dec. 2025

Verb

This year’s election cycle also promises to be another showdown of moneyed interests via dueling ballot measures, with those either increasing or decreasing taxes at the top of the heap. —Dan Walters, Mercury News, 6 Jan. 2026

There were dueling rallies across the street from the courthouse following Maduro’s hearing. —Ben Wieder, Miami Herald, 5 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

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

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

circa 1645, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Rhymes for duel

• cruel
• dual
• fuel
• gruel
• jewel
• newel
• accrual
• nonfuel
• refuel
• renewal
• biofuel
• contextual

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"