battue

American  

[ba-too, -tyoo, ba-ty] / bæˈtu, -ˈtju, baˈtü /

noun

Chiefly British.

• battues
  plural

1. Hunting.

   1. the beating or driving of game from cover toward a stationary hunter.

   2. a hunt or hunting party using this method of securing game.

2. undiscriminating slaughter of defenseless or unresisting crowds.

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battue British  

/ baty, bæˈtuː, -ˈtjuː /

noun

1. the beating of woodland or cover to force game to flee in the direction of hunters

2. 1. an organized shooting party using this method

   2. the game disturbed or shot by this method

3. indiscriminate slaughter, as of a defenceless crowd

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• battues
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of battue

1810–20; < French, noun use of feminine of battu, past participle of battre < Latin battuere to beat. See battuta, battle ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

battue battues

As the only Grand Slam contested on clay — in this case, the so-called terre battue, which is essentially crushed brick — the French Open stands apart from Wimbledon and the Australian and U.S.

From Washington Post ● May 15, 2020

In winning the French Open 11 of the last 14 years, Rafael Nadal of Spain has all but cemented his tennis shoes into the terre battue, or red clay, of Roland Garros.

From New York Times ● May 24, 2019

We outline whom they face first, how far they might go, and what would be a good French Open result for players from a nation that has traditionally struggled on the terre battue.

From The Guardian ● May 23, 2015

Having beaten none other than Federer on clay earlier this year, Isner could very well go deep in the draw at the French—and restore some much-needed American pride on the dreaded terre battue.

From Time ● May 23, 2012

That by day is by battue, when a whole tribe turns out to “beard the lion in his den” and make him break cover.

From Notes in North Africa Being a Guide to the Sportsman and Tourist in Algeria and Tunisia by W. G. Windham

There were shooting-parties and battues; there was a plenty of balls and entertainments at the hospitable Court; the society was generally good; the theatre excellent; and the living cheap.

From Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

I have, however, little doubt that Rooks during the whole of their lives associate the memory of these battues with the appearance of a man armed with a gun.

From British Birds in their Haunts by Rev. C. A. Johns

Instead of birds and ground game being wounded time after time, at big battues they are killed stone dead by some well-known and acknowledged good shot.

From A Cotswold Village by J. Arthur Gibbs

Two or three battues of this kind take place every year, chiefly for the purpose of destroying the wolves that come in flocks and carry dismay into the sheep-folds.

From Travels in the Steppes of the Caspian Sea, the Crimea, the Caucasus, &c. by Xavier Hommaire de Hell

September came, and brought some relief to those who were suffering in the inferno of provincial ennui; but this is only the purgatory to the Paradise of battues.

From The Young Duke by Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield

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