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.

---

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

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• battues
  plural

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

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

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

Courier, for one, was never averse to what the French call terre battue.

From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2012

When one makes its appearance, the authorities generally order a battue.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 377, March 1847 by Various

Apart from those battues and the measures of all kinds which Chanzy took to reorganise his army, little of immediate import occurred at Laval.

From My Days of Adventure The Fall of France, 1870-71 by Ernest Alfred Vizetelly

We didn't linger very long at table, as the days were shortening fast, and we wanted to follow some of the battues.

From Chateau and Country Life in France by Mary Alsop King Waddington

The ladies then, for the first time, were made acquainted with the doubts, fears, perplexities, and battues, which, out of gallantry, they had hitherto been kept in ignorance of.

From Willis the Pilot by Paul Adrien

Who had not heard of the battues of Col.

From Picturesque Quebec : a sequel to Quebec past and present by Sir J. M. (James MacPherson) Le Moine

I climbed up when the battues were over.

From Chateau and Country Life in France by Mary Alsop King Waddington