skirmish

Speech parts

1. skirmish - Noun

2. skirmish - Verb

Meaning

To fight slightly or in small parties; to engage in a skirmish or skirmishes; to act as skirmishers.

A slight fight in war; a light or desultory combat between detachments from armies, or between detached and small bodies of troops.

A slight contest.

Source: Webster's dictionary

Synonyms

encounter brush clash face-off war action attack battle affray fighting fight competition conflict combat violence
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Antonyms

amity alliance amnesty back peace agreement
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Hypernyms

fighting fight combat struggle contend scrap

Hyponyms

contretemps

Phrases with the word

downy skirmish headrest skirmish skirmish with engaged in a skirmish feathery pillow skirmish

Derivatives

skirmished skirmishing

Examples

Truth-loving Persians do not dwell upon The trivial skirmish fought near Marathon. Robert Graves

London is an endless skirmish between angles and emptiness. China Miéville

The most trivial skirmish is not trivial to those who die in it, and so should not be trivial in any ultimate sense to us. Gene Wolfe

This latest skirmish in the high art/low art war has played out most fiercely over Mr. Tidwell, who shocked balletomanes when he left American Ballet Theater in 2005, then added insult to injury by joining the third season of "So You Think You Can Dance.”. Danny Tidwell

In a war, no matter the outcome of a certain skirmish or battle, the winner is the party whose attitudes, behaviors and preoccupations come to dominate the postwar landscape. By this measure, the outcome of the gender wars, if wars they were, is clear: women won. Marcus Buckingham

Two Sir Positives can scarce meet without a skirmish. Irish Proverb

Close letter words and terms

skirlcrake skirlie skirling skirmish with skirmisher skirmishing