melee

noun

me·​lee ˈmā-ˌlā How to pronounce melee (audio)
mā-ˈlā
variants or less commonly mêlée
: a confused struggle
especially : a hand-to-hand fight among several people
They were seriously injured in the melee.

Did you know?

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").

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 on the Web Both men were shot during the melee, according to probable cause affidavits. Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 21 Feb. 2024 If a lawyer or judge is trying to use generic generative AI while in the midst of courtroom legal argument melees, there is a chance that the AI won’t do much better than not using generative AI. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2024 The history of the Florentine Renaissance can also be told in wars—a continual melee of rival families and city-states—and in the books that were used both to support and to undermine civic freedoms. Claudia Roth Pierpont, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024 But then a melee erupts, ending with Johnson kneeling on Escalante’s head for several minutes. James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 20 Nov. 2023 The melee, which spread all across the court and sent some fans scrambling to get out of the way, appeared to injure a young girl in the crowd, as well as a student manager who left the court with blood on their face, according to the broadcasters calling the game. Sean Neumann, Peoplemag, 22 Feb. 2024 Dispute over $5 leads to slaying His fight with Reid was over a $5 debt, a melee involving a group of boys with stick and knives — and Petty ended it with a .25-caliber pistol. Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2024 Bragg also acknowledged that some of the men initially charged with assaulting police appear to have played only a minor role in the melee. Jake Offenhartz The Associated Press, arkansasonline.com, 10 Feb. 2024 At least two opposition presidential candidates were swept up in the melee. Reuters, CNN, 5 Feb. 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

Etymology

French mêlée, from Old French meslee, from mesler to mix — more at meddle

First Known Use

circa 1648, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of melee was circa 1648

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Cite this Entry

“Melee.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/melee. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

melee

noun
me·​lee ˈmā-ˌlā How to pronounce melee (audio)
mā-ˈlā
: a confused struggle
especially : a hand-to-hand fight among several people

More from Merriam-Webster on melee

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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