battle
noun
a hostile encounter or engagement between opposing military forces.
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Battled.
battle
1 American
[bat-l]
/ ˈbæt l /
noun
-
battles
plural
-
a hostile encounter or engagement between opposing military forces.
the battle of Waterloo.
-
participation in such hostile encounters or engagements.
wounds received in battle.
-
a fight between two persons or animals.
ordering a trial by battle to settle the dispute.
-
any conflict or struggle.
a battle for control of the Senate.
-
Archaic. a battalion.
verb (used without object)
battled,
battling
verb (used with object)
battled,
battling
-
to fight (a person, army, cause, etc.).
We battled strong winds and heavy rains in our small boat.
-
to force or accomplish by fighting, struggling, etc..
He battled his way to the top of his profession.
idioms
battle
2
American
[bat-l]
/ ˈbæt l /
verb (used with object)
Archaic.
battled,
battling
battle
1
British
/ ˈbætəl /
noun
-
a fight between large armed forces; military or naval engagement; combat
-
conflict; contention; struggle
his battle for recognition
-
to start fighting
verb
-
to fight in or as if in military combat; contend (with)
she battled against cancer
-
to struggle in order to achieve something or arrive somewhere
he battled through the crowd
-
(intr) to scrape a living, esp by doing odd jobs
Battle
2
British
/ ˈbætəl /
noun
Battle
3
British
/ ˈbætəl /
noun
battle
More Idioms
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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
Vocabulary lists containing battle
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"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act V
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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.
See Examples For:
Beneath the battle for aerial superiority, unmanned ground vehicles scurry back and forth delivering supplies, evacuating the wounded or, increasingly, leading the charge against the enemy.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
Talk about winning the battle but losing the war.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
He shared radio frequencies, troop locations and detailed battle planning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto on Monday ordered the government to mobilise maximum efforts to battle wildfires that have been raging for three months in some places.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
It was a battle of strength, whales versus robots, with the iceberg caught in between.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
The 1966 Battle of Hastings re-enactment that got real.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
“One Battle After Another,” from Paul Thomas Anderson, won numerous Oscars including best picture, but underperformed at the box office relative to its budget.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
The medieval embroidery, which is on display in Britain for the first time, depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England and the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
Shifen Fox, whose father was killed during the siege, sets out to rescue its story in “The Battle of Hengyang.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
At the Battle of White Oak Swamp, his lieutenants found it all but impossible to rouse him and lifted him, insensible, on to his horse, where he continued to slumber while shells exploded around him.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
The filmmakers followed the heated battles as people in the divided community resorted to screaming and name-calling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
Indonesia regularly battles wildfires during the dry season, but has seen stronger-than-usual blazes this year as a powerful El Nino cycle brings drought.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
After several weeks of court battles fighting extradition, Serhii K - identified in court documents as Serhii Kuznetsov - was transferred to Germany late last year.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
We didn’t have time to grieve before legal battles began.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Joan of Arc could have hidden in her village while battles raged around her, but she didn’t.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
It had been a maddening couple of months as Ohtani battled injuries, slid down the batting order and failed to produce when the Dodgers needed him most — in the postseason.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
In a matchup that lasted seven minutes, Bauers battled postseason superhero Yoshinobu Yamamoto for 12 excruciating pitches.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
Royal Mail has battled with increased competition and falling demand for letter deliveries in recent years, and last week announced plans to cut 2,500 head office and other supporting roles by the end of 2027.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
Haugen and Horwitz battled similarly daunting foes, and the rot they uncovered was just as systemic and frightening as the reporting.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026
I battled a different sort of guilt when I sat at my office distracted by the idea that Malia might be allergic to peanuts.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
The smoke is a direct consequence of the fires, which four people lost their lives battling in East Java's Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park on Thursday, Indonesia's forestry ministry said in a statement.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
In the last couple of years Tottenham and Manchester United have found themselves fighting at the wrong end of the table, while teams like Aston Villa, Brentford and Brighton have been battling at the top.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
China, the world’s second-largest economy, is battling its own problems, including a painful property-market crisis and high youth unemployment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Fast-food chains have been battling for consumers and often resorting to discounts to do so.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Down he spun, battling for air, in a flood that broke upon him like a crumbling mountain.
From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
