skirmish
Americannoun
-
skirmishes
plural
verb (used without object)
-
skirmishes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
skirmished,
past participle, past
-
skirmishing
present participle
noun
-
a minor short-lived military engagement
-
any brisk clash or encounter, usually of a minor nature
verb
Synonym Usage
See battle 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
skirmishsimple
-
skirmishessimple
-
have skirmishedperfect
-
has skirmishedperfect
-
am skirmishingprogressive
-
are skirmishingprogressive
-
is skirmishingprogressive
-
have been skirmishingperfect progressive
-
has been skirmishingperfect progressive
Past
-
skirmishedsimple
-
had skirmishedperfect
-
was skirmishingprogressive
-
were skirmishingprogressive
-
had been skirmishingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of skirmish
1300–50; (noun) Middle English skirmysshe < Old French eskirmiss-, long stem of eskirmir < Germanic (compare Old High German skirman ); replacing Middle English scarmouche < Old French escaramoucher ( see Scaramouch); (v.) late Middle English scarmuchen, scarmusshen to skirmish, Middle English skirmisshen to brandish a weapon < Old French escar ( a ) mucher to skirmish; vowels influenced by Old French eskirmiss-
Explanation
A skirmish is a small fight — more a dust-up than a full-out battle — and it can refer to a physical fight or just a battle of words. It is definitely confrontational, though. Think of a skirmish as kind of a mini-battle, although a military skirmish can end with casualties. Still, although such an encounter can be serious, even the very word skirmish sounds slight, like a stirring of dust in the breeze. Shakespeare referred to the combative nature of his characters Beatrice and Benedick, in "Much Ado About Nothing," as "a kind of merry war betwixt Signior Benedick and her: they never meet but there's a skirmish of wit between them."
Vocabulary lists containing skirmish
Much Ado About Nothing
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This Week In Words: August 30–September 4, 2020
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My Brother Sam is Dead
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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:
But if the first go-rounds last year were tragedy—depressing stocks, spiking prices, and rending hearts in both countries—the latest skirmish is starting to look more like farce.
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026
Pakistan’s ability to hold its own in its skirmish with India last year also enhanced its prestige in Washington.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
According to him the war in Lebanon is "a separate skirmish".
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026
The legal skirmish cast a cloud over Shell’s tenure helping lead the company because the Ellisons wanted to stay focused on running Paramount and their Warner Bros. takeover.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
After a skirmish or two, she always gets her way.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
Unitree humanoids are among the world's most recognisable, having wowed audiences with fluid martial arts dances and robot-on-robot kickboxing skirmishes.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
The book ends with a few skirmishes during the Reagan administration, including when U.S.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
These sorts of legal skirmishes happen all the time in this country.
From Slate ● Jun. 17, 2026
It followed a series of skirmishes centered on U.S. efforts to enforce its blockade of Iranian ports and Tehran’s actions to keep shipping through the Strait of Hormuz bottled up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
He must have believed that if he kept winning these tiny skirmishes, victory would eventually be his.
From "Bodega Dreams" by Ernesto Quinonez
He skirmished with health department officials and at times the White House, where some came to regard him as a rogue agent, the Journal previously reported.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
Riordan understood what our erstwhile owners did not: We had all skirmished in the arena, but there was no reason we couldn’t celebrate the important role of an independent media.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2023
Both empires had ambitions to expand their influence, and they regularly skirmished with one another and attempted to meddle in each other’s politics, including by supporting rival claimants to the throne.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
His troop skirmished against the Apache leader Geronimo in the waning Indian Wars.
From New York Times ● Jul. 20, 2020
The last time she skirmished with Alexandra was when her brother died.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
Oil prices are higher too overnight after more skirmishing in the Middle East.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
Black does well in the early skirmishing in this Four Knights Game, but fails to respond adequately when Kupchik opens up the play in the center.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 11, 2023
The skirmishing was not just on the battlefield.
From New York Times ● Mar. 1, 2023
“I think that augurs well for the pretrial skirmishing to come if she charges,” Eisen said.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 23, 2022
—Fortune Kether: an artist—renowned publicly for his frescoes and privately for the catapults and siege engines he designed for skirmishing kings.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Definitions 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.
