melee

noun me·lee \ ˈmā-ˌlā , mā-ˈ \

variants: or less commonly mêlée

|Updated on: 19 Aug 2018

Examples: melee in a Sentence

Editor's Note: melee Has French Roots

Definition of melee

: a confused struggle; especially : a hand-to-hand fight among several people

They were seriously injured in the melee.

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Examples of melee in a Sentence

a verbal disagreement at the football game soon turned into a general melee involving scores of spectators

Recent Examples of melee from the Web

The melee escalated not long after as more players, other officials and adults continued to break up the brawl.

— alexandria alejandro, Houston Chronicle, "Basketball game involving Houston team erupts into all-out brawl with refs, players," 10 July 2018
During the melee, rioters broke windows, hurled objects at police, and set a limo afire, among other actions, causing more than $100,000 in damage to public and private property, prosecutors said.

— doug stanglin, USA TODAY, "Feds drop charges against final 38 defendants over inauguration-day riots," 6 July 2018
Officials did not comment on whether the exit had in fact been closed after the melee broke out.

— NBC News, "17 killed in stampede after brawl at crowded Caracas club," 16 June 2018
The melee lasted less than two minutes, Organvidez said.

— allyson chiu, Anchorage Daily News, "Police wound man firing gun inside Trump Doral Miami hotel and 'yelling' about president," 18 May 2018
The banging subsides, and the melee disappears into the darkness.

— aaron gilbreath, Longreads, "Judgement and Epiphany on Pittsburgh’s Number 79 Bus," 11 May 2018
Sparked by a disagreement over leadership elections, the melee inside the crowded place of worship ended with nine injuries and no arrests.

— vic ryckaert, Indianapolis Star, "Video shows fight break out inside Greenwood Sikh temple," 17 Apr. 2018
The mayhem did not spread, but during the multi-day melee in Mandalay two men—one Muslim and one Buddhist—were killed and around 20 others were injured.

— timothy mclaughlin, WIRED, "How Facebook’s Rise Fueled Chaos and Confusion in Myanmar," 6 July 2018
The decision set off a touch-line melee among players from both sides.

— BostonGlobe.com, "Injury-time goal helps Spain clinch Group B at World Cup," 25 June 2018

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.

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 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").