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a verbal disagreement at the football game soon turned into a general melee involving scores of spectators
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'melee.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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 melee, 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").
First Known Use: circa 1648
in the meaning defined above
See Words from the same yearbrawl, donnybrook, fracas, fray, free-for-all, rough-and-tumble, row, ruckus, ruction;
battle, clash, combat, conflict, contest, fisticuffs, handgrips, hassle, scrap, scrimmage, scuffle, skirmish, struggle, tussle;
altercation, argument, dispute, kickup, quarrel, spat, squabble, tiff, wrangle;
: a confused struggle or fight involving many people
See words that rhyme with melee Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for melee Spanish Central: Translation of 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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