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• battle
  battle

  noun

  a hostile encounter or engagement between opposing military forces.
• Battle
  Battle

  noun

  a town in SE England, in East Sussex: site of the Battle of Hastings (1066); medieval abbey. Pop: 5190 (2001)

battle

¹ American  

[bat-l] / ˈbæt l /

noun

• battles
  plural

1. a hostile encounter or engagement between opposing military forces.

   the battle of Waterloo.

   Synonyms:

   war, conflict, contest

2. participation in such hostile encounters or engagements.

   wounds received in battle.

   Synonyms:

   combat, warfare

3. a fight between two persons or animals.

   ordering a trial by battle to settle the dispute.

4. any conflict or struggle.

   a battle for control of the Senate.

5. Archaic. a battalion.

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verb (used without object)

battled, battling

1. to engage in battle.

   ready to battle with the enemy.

2. to work very hard or struggle; strive.

   to battle for freedom.

   Synonyms:

   toil

verb (used with object)

battled, battling

1. to fight (a person, army, cause, etc.).

   We battled strong winds and heavy rains in our small boat.

2. to force or accomplish by fighting, struggling, etc..

   He battled his way to the top of his profession.

idioms

1. give / do battle, to enter into conflict; fight.

   He was ready to do battle for his beliefs.

battle ² American  

[bat-l] / ˈbæt l /

verb (used with object)

Archaic.

battled, battling

1. to furnish (a building or wall) with battlements; crenelate.

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battle ¹ British  

/ ˈbætəl /

noun

1. a fight between large armed forces; military or naval engagement; combat

2. conflict; contention; struggle

   his battle for recognition

3. to start fighting

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verb

1. to fight in or as if in military combat; contend (with)

   she battled against cancer

2. to struggle in order to achieve something or arrive somewhere

   he battled through the crowd

3. (intr) to scrape a living, esp by doing odd jobs

Battle ² British  

/ ˈbætəl /

noun

1. a town in SE England, in East Sussex: site of the Battle of Hastings (1066); medieval abbey. Pop: 5190 (2001)

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Battle ³ British  

/ ˈbætəl /

noun

1. Kathleen . born 1948, US opera singer: a coloratura soprano, she made her professional debut in 1972 and sang with New York City's Metropolitan Opera (1977–94)

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battle More Idioms  

1. see half the battle; losing battle; pitched battle.

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Synonym Usage

Battle, action, skirmish mean a conflict between organized armed forces. A battle is a prolonged and general conflict pursued to a definite decision: the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. A skirmish is a slight engagement, often on the periphery of an area of battle: several minor skirmishes. An action can be a battle or a skirmish or can refer to actual fighting or combat: a major military action; action along the border; He saw action in the campaign.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• battler
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• battles
  plural

Etymology

Origin of battle¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English batail(le), batal, from Old French bataille, from Vulgar Latin battālia (unrecorded) for Late Latin battuālia (neuter plural) “gladiatorial exercises,” equivalent to battu(ere) “to strike” + -ālia, neuter plural of -ālis adjective suffix; see also -al ², bate ²

Origin of battle²

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English batailen, from Middle French bataillier “to provide with batailles; see battlement

Explanation

A battle is an open struggle, usually between two groups — like a baseball championship game or a food fight. The word battle is often used in opposition to war, a series of battles. Perhaps you have heard someone tell you, after winning the first of many dance competitions, "You may have won the battle, but you haven’t won the war!" A battle doesn’t have to occur between two individuals or groups. You may endure an inner battle to cut down on junk food. If you skip those fries for lunch today, then you have won a small battle.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

battle Battle battles battled battling

Now, the clamor over unregulated peptides is fueling a high-stakes policy battle within the federal government.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

A Scottish seaside town is locked in a battle with a vandal targeting local parking police.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Women already have an uphill battle trying to maintain a healthy body image.

From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026

As José Carlos Cueto reports, while the bill was passed unanimously in Colombia's Congress, it follows a long battle to eradicate the dangerous and often secretive procedure.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Me and my buddies, the Grand Island Boys, have the honor of kicking off tonight’s battle.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

George Osborn, journalist and author of Power Play: Video Games, Politics and the Battle for Global Influence, said it was still an "appealing" financial opportunity to PIF, external despite the enormous price tag.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

The missile is named after the Battle of Khaybar, the 628 campaign in which the Prophet Muhammad’s forces conquered the fortified oasis of Khaybar, then held by Arabian Jews.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

President Woodrow Wilson was re-elected the year that pipe was laid, and the Germans attacked the French in the World War I Battle of Verdun, with the death toll topping 700,000.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

It marks the 110th anniversary of the Battle of Delville Wood in Longueval, northern France, where several hundred South Africans were killed.

From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026

But then their offensive sputtered to a halt as infantrymen and horse-drawn artillery became ensnared in the obstacle course of churned-up fields, abandoned trenches, and shattered roads left from the Battle of the Somme.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

Created in the 1970s by a vote of the people, the coastal commission has had to navigate some of the most high-profile and divisive battles in the state and has had no shortage of critics.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

Former Everton midfielder Leon Osman believes after a chaotic period of financial breaches, points deductions and relegation battles, successive mid-table finishes demonstrate progress.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

Before long, Anthropic’s growth rate surged past OpenAI’s, as did its valuation—and OpenAI found itself waging two separate battles as its lead in the AI race came under siege.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

Your letter raises a broader question about choosing battles.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

Barack could happily end a day in a faraway hotel with all sorts of political battles brewing and loose ends floating.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Designer Satoshi Nakagawa has long battled sceptics, but believes that the technology powering the 800 LEDs has a role to play in solving humanity's energy conundrum.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

But Rafaela battled back from a 0-2 count.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026

Reile battled WSI for six months to get a $150 cushion for his wheelchair, he says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

The former Sunderland player has been consistent over nine campaigns with Everton, winning the club's player-of-the-season award three times in a row as they battled relegation between 2021 and 2024.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

For nine years she had battled the cancer in her bone marrow; now the contest was ending.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

Gen. Rob Bonta leads a coalition of state attorneys general who are battling to try to unravel the mammoth deal.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Meanwhile, across the pond, Europeans are battling their own record-breaking wildfires in the U.K.,

From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2026

Tennis, the author writes, “is all about time—gathering it for yourself, taking it away from the opponent, battling against its relentless move toward the end of a brief career.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

She told the BBC how she started feeling ill two weeks later, battling headaches, joint and muscle pains.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

The Pinkerton National Detective Agency was the more dangerous entity, but its operatives of late seemed to be spending most of their energy battling strikers at coalfields and steel mills around the country.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Related Words

• action
• assault
• attack
• bloodshed
• bombing
• campaign
• clash
• combat
• conflict
• crusade
• encounter
• fighting
• hostility
• skirmish
• strife
• struggle
• war
• warfare