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Melee Has French Roots
Fray, donnybrook, brawl, fracas: there are many English words for confused and noisy fights, and in the 17th century melee was thrown into the mix. It comes from the French mêlée, which in turn comes from the Old French meslee, meaning "mixture." Meslee comes from the Old French verb mesler, or medler, which means "to mix." This verb is also the source of medley ("a mixture or hodgepodge") and meddle ("to mix oneself in others' affairs" or "to interfere").
Synonyms
Examples of melee in a Sentence
Chris Sims, The Indianapolis Star, 9 Apr. 2024
Authorities later estimated some 1,000 juveniles watched the melee.
—Rachel Uranga, Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2024
The hospital shooting and escape In a news release, police wrote, that during the 2:15 a.m. melee, two officers were struck by gunfire.
—Jonathan Limehouse, USA TODAY, 21 Mar. 2024
Miami got some bad news Sunday when Jimmy Butler, Thomas Bryant and Nikola Jovic were suspended for their roles in the melee that occurred in Friday’s 106-95 win over the Pelicans.
—Jason Anderson, Sacramento Bee, 26 Feb. 2024
The melee occurred the night of Jan. 27 as police were trying to disperse a crowd when a fight broke out.
—Antonio Planas, NBC News, 10 Feb. 2024
Barrow, who began shooting a gun in the melee, was later convicted of assault in shooting two bystanders who were wounded, while Reuben was wounded in the face by bullet fragments.
—Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY, 26 Mar. 2024
The victim attempted to disperse the melee when Hardy attempted to punch him and missed.
—Ishani Desai, Sacramento Bee, 2 Mar. 2024
Both cousins were injured and Rifi had had to cower amid the dead in an early morning melee that erupted when the rare aid convoy passed an Israeli military checkpoint and entered Gaza City.
—Jonathan Baran, Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'melee.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Dictionary Entries Near melee
Cite this Entry
“Melee.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/melee. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
melee
noun
More from Merriam-Webster on melee
Nglish: Translation of melee for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of melee for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about melee
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