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as in clash
a physical dispute between opposing individuals or groups
throughout the week of the convention, police engaged in skirmishes with some of the demonstrators
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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as in to prospect
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of skirmish
Khaleda Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 May 2025
The move is another skirmish in a broader set of battles being fought on multiple fronts: between competing pharmaceutical companies, between the pharma industry and pharmacy benefit managers, between pharma and direct-to-consumer telehealth companies.
—Seth Joseph, Forbes.com, 5 May 2025
Taylor Seely, The Arizona Republic, 13 Nov. 2024
The two eyed each other warily as Armenia and Azerbaijan skirmished in the early 2000s.
—Maria Snegovaya, Foreign Affairs, 25 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for skirmish
Noun
The two countries have periodically engaged in wars, clashes and skirmishes since gaining independence from British India in 1947.
—Khaleda Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 May 2025
The move is another skirmish in a broader set of battles being fought on multiple fronts: between competing pharmaceutical companies, between the pharma industry and pharmacy benefit managers, between pharma and direct-to-consumer telehealth companies.
—Seth Joseph, Forbes.com, 5 May 2025
Verb
Garcia, who had the backing of the same progressive groups backing Hernandez, frequently skirmished with Gallego.
—Taylor Seely, The Arizona Republic, 13 Nov. 2024
The two eyed each other warily as Armenia and Azerbaijan skirmished in the early 2000s.
—Maria Snegovaya, Foreign Affairs, 25 Nov. 2024
See All Example Sentences for skirmish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for skirmish
Noun
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Some, including National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, are reportedly wary of the encounter, while others, such as Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, support it for its potential to foster new deals.—
Amanda Castro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 May 2025
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Some of the encounters were video recorded and took place over days, according to prosecutors.—
Elizabeth Wagmeister,
CNN Money,
12 May 2025
Noun
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Dugan's arrest has escalated a clash between the Trump administration and Democrats over the Republican president's sweeping immigration crackdown.—
Dan Gooding
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 May 2025
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Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan’s arrest and ensuing indictment has escalated a clash between President Donald Trump’s administration and local authorities over the Republican’s sweeping immigration crackdown.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
14 May 2025
Verb
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Becky and Lyra inevitably brawled, and Lyra got the better of Lynch.—
Alfred Konuwa,
Forbes.com,
5 May 2025
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Punk taped his fist and immediately brawled with Rollins.—
Alfred Konuwa,
Forbes.com,
21 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Sales prospecting is the first step in every sales cycle.—
Besnik Vrellaku,
Forbes.com,
12 May 2025
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Opposite Cease, former Padres prospect Max Fried delivered another gem for the Yankees.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
8 May 2025
Noun
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As a 60-person battle royale, matches can be extremely long and, in tournament play, repeat over and over for hours until a winning team can be crowned.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
20 May 2025
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Salter is also in a quarterback battle with true freshman Julian Lewis.—
Steven Johnson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
19 May 2025
Verb
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But Petzold is invariably a probing observer of his characters’ psyches, aided here by four excellent actors, including the incandescent Paula Beer in their fourth collaboration.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
17 May 2025
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Other countries have probed, sometimes painfully, the taboos of their own origin stories, says Sarmila Bose, an Indian author who published a controversial book in 2011 about Bangladesh’s liberation war.—
Simon Montlake,
Christian Science Monitor,
16 May 2025
Noun
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Even when cases of public console hacking have led to protracted legal fights—such as George Hotz's saga with the PS3 or Team Xecuter's Switch jailbreaks—console makers don't seem to have used technical means to completely disable offline functions for specific consoles.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
22 May 2025
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The awards ceremony reception was being held outdoors when the fight between two adults led to the stabbing, a Fort Worth ISD spokesperson said in a statement.—
Shambhavi Rimal,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
22 May 2025
Verb
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The idea of using this movement as a background to explore these themes, using the language of a musical film started to take shape.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
20 May 2025
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Research exploring this topic generally focuses on younger adolescents, who are less likely to be allowed to try alcohol by their parents, but this practice becomes more common as adolescents get older.—
Bernard Pereda,
The Conversation,
20 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Skirmish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/skirmish. Accessed 25 May. 2025.
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