affray

[ uh-frey ]
See synonyms for affray on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a public fight; a noisy quarrel; brawl.

  2. Law. the fighting of two or more persons in a public place.

verb (used with object)
  1. Archaic. to frighten.

Origin of affray

1
1275–1325; Middle English <Anglo-French afray (noun), afrayer (v.), Old French esfrei (noun), esfreer (v.) <Vulgar Latin *exfridāre to break the peace, equivalent to ex-ex-1 + -frid- peace (<Germanic; compare German Friede) + -āre infinitive suffix

Other words for affray

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use affray in a sentence

  • Some with fractured skulls were sent on board of us, which had been got in amorous affrays of that kind.

    Voyage of H.M.S. Pandora | Edward Edwards
  • But the most famous of Benton's affrays was that with Jackson himself, in 1813.

    Thomas Hart Benton | Theodore Roosevelt
  • It is not good to visit localities just after shooting affrays.

  • The contest between the merchant and his antagonist was not an exception to other affrays between their countrymen.

    The Boy Slaves | Mayne Reid
  • Sometimes, indeed, it led to quite serious affrays if two parties met at a crossing.

    A Little Girl in Old New York | Amanda Millie Douglas

British Dictionary definitions for affray

affray

/ (əˈfreɪ) /


noun
  1. law a fight, noisy quarrel, or disturbance between two or more persons in a public place

verb
  1. (tr) archaic to frighten

Origin of affray

1
C14: via Old French from Vulgar Latin exfridāre (unattested) to break the peace; compare German Friede peace

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012