skirmish
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
noun
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a minor short-lived military engagement
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any brisk clash or encounter, usually of a minor nature
verb
Synonym Usage
See battle 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
has skirmishedperfect 3rd person singular
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have skirmishedperfect
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has been skirmishingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been skirmishingperfect progressive
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is skirmishingprogressive 3rd person singular
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am skirmishingprogressive 1st person singular
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are skirmishingprogressive
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skirmishessingular 3rd person
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skirmishingparticiple
Past
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had skirmishedperfect
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had been skirmishingperfect progressive
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was skirmishingprogressive singular
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were skirmishingprogressive plural
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skirmishedparticiple
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skirmishedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of skirmish
1300–50; (noun) Middle English skirmysshe < Old French eskirmiss-, long stem of eskirmir < Germanic (compare Old High German skirman ); replacing Middle English scarmouche < Old French escaramoucher ( see Scaramouch); (v.) late Middle English scarmuchen, scarmusshen to skirmish, Middle English skirmisshen to brandish a weapon < Old French escar ( a ) mucher to skirmish; vowels influenced by Old French eskirmiss-
Explanation
A skirmish is a small fight — more a dust-up than a full-out battle — and it can refer to a physical fight or just a battle of words. It is definitely confrontational, though. Think of a skirmish as kind of a mini-battle, although a military skirmish can end with casualties. Still, although such an encounter can be serious, even the very word skirmish sounds slight, like a stirring of dust in the breeze. Shakespeare referred to the combative nature of his characters Beatrice and Benedick, in "Much Ado About Nothing," as "a kind of merry war betwixt Signior Benedick and her: they never meet but there's a skirmish of wit between them."
Vocabulary lists containing skirmish
Much Ado About Nothing
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This Week In Words: August 30–September 4, 2020
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My Brother Sam is Dead
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In October 2018, Perez placed fourth in the North American Fortnite Fall Skirmish and won $25,000 with her teammate.
From The Verge • Aug. 2, 2019
All the way to the Great Airline Gay Sponsorship Skirmish of 2016, which has left some local gay workers feeling left out of a parade they once saw as their own.
From Seattle Times • May 17, 2016
Parks has been a re-enactor and shoots with the North-South Skirmish Association, while filling his home with books on the Civil War.
From Washington Times • Sep. 20, 2014
Skirmish after skirmish is reported; background notes on the combatants are supplied, some untested for relevance; fact after fact is logged, and anything that looks too much like an idea is briskly avoided.
From The Guardian • Feb. 15, 2013
Skirmish firing broke out in the fields below Seminary Ridge; musketry popped in patches of white smoke as the lines felt and probed.
From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
