duel
Americannoun
-
duels
plural
-
a prearranged combat between two persons, fought with deadly weapons according to an accepted code of procedure, especially to settle a private quarrel.
-
any contest between two persons or parties.
verb (used with or without object)
-
duels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dueled,
past participle, past
-
duelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
dueling,
present participle
-
duelling
present participle (especially British)
noun
-
a prearranged combat with deadly weapons between two people following a formal procedure in the presence of seconds and traditionally fought until one party was wounded or killed, usually to settle a quarrel involving a point of honour
-
a contest or conflict between two persons or parties
verb
-
to fight in a duel
-
to contest closely
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
duelsimple
-
duelssimple
-
have dueledperfect
-
have duelledperfect
-
has dueledperfect
-
has duelledperfect
-
am duelingprogressive
-
am duellingprogressive
-
are duelingprogressive
-
are duellingprogressive
-
is duelingprogressive
-
is duellingprogressive
-
have been duelingperfect progressive
-
have been duellingperfect progressive
-
has been duelingperfect progressive
-
has been duellingperfect progressive
Past
-
dueledsimple
-
duelledsimple
-
had dueledperfect
-
had duelledperfect
-
was duelingprogressive
-
was duellingprogressive
-
were duelingprogressive
-
were duellingprogressive
-
had been duelingperfect progressive
-
had been duellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of duel
1585–95; earlier duell < Medieval Latin duellum, Latin: earlier form of bellum war, probably maintained and given sense “duel” by association with Latin duo two
Explanation
A duel is a fight between two people, usually using swords or other weapons. If you tend to be a little cowardly, you're probably glad that people aren't expected to defend their honor with a duel these days. The classic definition of a duel is the kind that happens all the time in Shakespeare plays: two men clanking swords together in a battle to the death over some issue of honor or betrayal. Today, the word duel can be used to talk about any kind of contest or struggle — like a duel between political candidates. The word duel can be traced back to both duo, Latin for "two," and also duellum, which means "war."
Vocabulary lists containing duel
Commonly Confused Words, List 1
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Commonly Confused Words, List 3
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
UCPS 6th Grade Roots List #5
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Among the criteria graded on Anderson's 'radar chart' were defensive regains, duel success, line-breaking passes, aerial-duel success and defensive errors.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Sinner and Alcaraz produced a clean sweep of the Grand Slam titles in 2024 and 2025, winning four majors apiece in a duopoly which has morphed into a generational duel.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Why did book lovers stop just short of challenging Kondo to a duel over something she didn’t actually say?
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
The first semifinal, in Dallas on Tuesday, pits two of the most technically and tactically sophisticated teams at the tournament against each other in a duel that feels more like a chess match.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
Of course, she’d have to duel the grotesque one.
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
They were winning aerial duels by 67.6% to 32.4%, they had eight shots to Celtic's one, six on target to Celtic's zero.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
He had survived bandito ambushes and cutthroat plots, shipwrecks and crash-landings and high-sea duels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
He's becoming a real monster in there, wins a lot of second balls and a lot of duels.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
Egyptians in antiquity engaged in sword combat for warfare, but also for competition — Romans utilized swords in gladiator events, rituals and duels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
We took turns challenging each other to cello duels, each trying to out-crazy-play the other.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
They had already dueled on the clay of Roland-Garros and the grass of Wimbledon this season, taking one final apiece.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2025
Clayton Kershaw and Reid Detmers dueled through seven scoreless innings, but the Dodgers got two runs in the eighth and prevailed 2-0 over the Angels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2023
The only remaining evidence of the feast, accompanied by milk buns a server calls “Chinese doughnuts,” are the looks of contentment on those who dueled with it.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 28, 2023
You could choose to showcase different sorts of stories with a more positive attitude and still be a hit; see Oprah Winfrey, whose talk show Springer’s dueled with in the ratings.
From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 2023
Watching him now, she realized that Syrio had only been toying with her when they dueled.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
He duelled with O'Rourke, eventually getting into a tangle against a short ball and being given caught behind on review.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
The Red Bull driver passed the Ferrari with four laps to go after the two had duelled during a tense race.
From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2022
Open ended with Mickelson once again having to settle for being second after he and fellow American Payne Stewart had duelled for the title during a cool and rainy final round.
From Reuters ● Jun. 10, 2014
Although Hamilton and Button duelled for the lead themselves 10 laps later, Goss feels Formula One's last two world champions showed Red Bull exactly how team-mates should behave on track.
From The Guardian ● May 31, 2010
She’d duelled for their freedom, out-pirated the pirates, gained the crew’s respect so well that Blackbeard finally put them ashore lest Hylla take over his ship.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
Their dueling accounts reflect a new reality where cameras are always rolling, virality can outpace truth and public perception is shaped less by what happened than by who posts first.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
The duo layer backing tracks until they seemingly collapse, like the dueling accenting rhythms of “Soledad” or the spacey and spectacular “Sensación,” which reaches a level of yearning that Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” couldn’t buy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Doing so would strengthen public confidence, improve accountability and ensure that misconduct claims are measured against objective evidence rather than dueling narratives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
The cone of silence around the wedding is the only place in which these dueling Swifts can freely coexist.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
Even the dueling voices of the war gods inside his head seemed to have dozed off.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
After playing looser passes, Arsenal, known for their duelling, were beaten by a Brighton side that swarmed around the ball.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
As the name reflected, the museum contained duelling missions from the start, showcasing American technological advances and telling a more general historical story.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026
Gyokeres could make use of long balls by duelling with defenders in wider areas, looking to run the channels.
From BBC ● May 30, 2026
The duelling Americans went with serve in the second set but the 24-year-old Anisimova cut an increasingly frustrated figure as her unforced error count mounted.
From Barron's ● Jan. 28, 2026
Percy had been intimidating enough before - summoning hurricanes, duelling pirates, killing giants in the Colosseum...
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
