noun
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close quarters combat between fighter aircraft
-
any rough violent fight
Etymology
Origin of dogfight
1650–60; 1915 dogfight for def. 2; dog + fight
Vocabulary lists containing dogfight
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:
Mexico and Brazil are in a caramelo dogfight.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
Williams didn’t speak about the details of the encounter — even with family members — until records about the dogfight were declassified in 2002.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026
Last weekend Osasuna winger Munoz impressed as his team won away for the first time all season, for back-to-back wins to take them away from the relegation dogfight.
From Barron's ● Jan. 30, 2026
Medals of honor tend to require eyewitnesses, though Mr. Issa notes that Soviet records testify to the dogfight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025
But using her hands as planes, Lilya was able to describe the maneuvering of their aerial dogfight blow by blow, and the German pilot had to admit that this novice fighter had defeated him.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
Known for: Highly maneuverable, supersonic light fighter, excellent dogfighting capabilities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
The Pentagon calls it “synchronized proximity maneuvers,” which is what happens when military bureaucrats try to describe dogfighting in space without using the word “dogfighting.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2025
Dogs rescued from dogfighting are often welcomed by sanctuaries around the country.
From New York Times ● Jan. 18, 2023
A young James Whale directed the talkie sequences while Hughes helmed and designed the dogfighting sequences.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 1, 2020
How could pilots navigate these powerful planes—traveling at hundreds of miles an hour—while looking at the cockpit gauges, listening to the radio, evading antiaircraft fire, and dogfighting?
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
At every stage, you are jostled along by reports of your ongoing accomplishments—thirty thousand steps taken, fifty alien words collected, ten pirate ships dogfought.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 10, 2016
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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.
