skirmish
noun
a fight between small bodies of troops, especially advanced or outlying detachments of opposing armies.
skirmished
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past participleof skirmish.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
-
past tense formof skirmish.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
skirmishnouna fight between small bodies of troops, especially advanced or outlying detachments of opposing armies.
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.
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
France, England, and other countries skirmished throughout the first half of the eighteenth century, and roughly a quarter century after Newton died, a full-scale war erupted.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
