as in brawl
a rough and often noisy fight usually involving several people
a verbal disagreement at the football game soon turned into a general melee involving scores of spectators
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of melee
When the shot rang out, Nathalie tried to reach her daughter, but the melee of panicked runners forced her out a side gate.
—
Rick Jervis, USA Today, 14 Sep. 2025
More than a dozen people faced criminal charges stemming from a melee after a rally in Soliman’s support; demonstrators and police blame each other for the violence July 17.
—Hannah Allam, ProPublica, 10 Sep. 2025
Director Fujii Michihito, working alongside Okada, has crafted what promises to be a visual spectacle, particularly evident in the large-scale melee sequence at Tenryuji Temple.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 7 Sep. 2025
That’s when the demo ushered in a wave of gory action involving visceral melee combat and gunplay.
—Joshua Lamb, Forbes.com, 6 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for melee
Rick Jervis, USA Today, 14 Sep. 2025
More than a dozen people faced criminal charges stemming from a melee after a rally in Soliman’s support; demonstrators and police blame each other for the violence July 17.
—Hannah Allam, ProPublica, 10 Sep. 2025
Director Fujii Michihito, working alongside Okada, has crafted what promises to be a visual spectacle, particularly evident in the large-scale melee sequence at Tenryuji Temple.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 7 Sep. 2025
That’s when the demo ushered in a wave of gory action involving visceral melee combat and gunplay.
—Joshua Lamb, Forbes.com, 6 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for melee
Recent Examples of Synonyms for melee
Noun
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They get wasted at a party and engage in a drunken brawl.—
Frank Scheck,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Oct. 2025
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Big-market brawls between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees now happen yearly.—
Evan Drellich,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
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These issues are not unique to the WNBA, as its affiliate league, the NBA, has weathered refereeing controversies and skirmishes over player pay for years.—
Sasha Rogelberg,
Fortune,
1 Oct. 2025
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Each new development is underscored by a lingering discomfort about the racial dynamics of the skirmish and about Maja taking action where Nourou might have wanted to leave the whole thing be.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
28 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Melee.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/melee. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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