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• battle
  battle

  noun

  a hostile encounter or engagement between opposing military forces.
• Battle
  Battle

  noun

  a town in SE England, in East Sussex: site of the Battle of Hastings (1066); medieval abbey. Pop: 5190 (2001)

battle

¹ American  

[bat-l] / ˈbæt l /

noun

• battles
  plural

1. a hostile encounter or engagement between opposing military forces.

   the battle of Waterloo.

   Synonyms:

   war, conflict, contest

2. participation in such hostile encounters or engagements.

   wounds received in battle.

   Synonyms:

   combat, warfare

3. a fight between two persons or animals.

   ordering a trial by battle to settle the dispute.

4. any conflict or struggle.

   a battle for control of the Senate.

5. Archaic. a battalion.

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verb (used without object)

battled, battling

1. to engage in battle.

   ready to battle with the enemy.

2. to work very hard or struggle; strive.

   to battle for freedom.

   Synonyms:

   toil

verb (used with object)

battled, battling

1. to fight (a person, army, cause, etc.).

   We battled strong winds and heavy rains in our small boat.

2. to force or accomplish by fighting, struggling, etc..

   He battled his way to the top of his profession.

idioms

1. give / do battle, to enter into conflict; fight.

   He was ready to do battle for his beliefs.

battle ² American  

[bat-l] / ˈbæt l /

verb (used with object)

Archaic.

battled, battling

1. to furnish (a building or wall) with battlements; crenelate.

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battle ¹ British  

/ ˈbætəl /

noun

1. a fight between large armed forces; military or naval engagement; combat

2. conflict; contention; struggle

   his battle for recognition

3. to start fighting

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verb

1. to fight in or as if in military combat; contend (with)

   she battled against cancer

2. to struggle in order to achieve something or arrive somewhere

   he battled through the crowd

3. (intr) to scrape a living, esp by doing odd jobs

Battle ² British  

/ ˈbætəl /

noun

1. a town in SE England, in East Sussex: site of the Battle of Hastings (1066); medieval abbey. Pop: 5190 (2001)

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Battle ³ British  

/ ˈbætəl /

noun

1. Kathleen . born 1948, US opera singer: a coloratura soprano, she made her professional debut in 1972 and sang with New York City's Metropolitan Opera (1977–94)

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battle More Idioms  

1. see half the battle; losing battle; pitched battle.

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Synonym Usage

Battle, action, skirmish mean a conflict between organized armed forces. A battle is a prolonged and general conflict pursued to a definite decision: the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. A skirmish is a slight engagement, often on the periphery of an area of battle: several minor skirmishes. An action can be a battle or a skirmish or can refer to actual fighting or combat: a major military action; action along the border; He saw action in the campaign.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• battler
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• battles
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of battle¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English batail(le), batal, from Old French bataille, from Vulgar Latin battālia (unrecorded) for Late Latin battuālia (neuter plural) “gladiatorial exercises,” equivalent to battu(ere) “to strike” + -ālia, neuter plural of -ālis adjective suffix; see also -al ², bate ²

Origin of battle²

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English batailen, from Middle French bataillier “to provide with batailles; see battlement

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Explanation

A battle is an open struggle, usually between two groups — like a baseball championship game or a food fight. The word battle is often used in opposition to war, a series of battles. Perhaps you have heard someone tell you, after winning the first of many dance competitions, "You may have won the battle, but you haven’t won the war!" A battle doesn’t have to occur between two individuals or groups. You may endure an inner battle to cut down on junk food. If you skip those fries for lunch today, then you have won a small battle.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

battle Battle battles battled battling

The modern church-state battle began in the mid-19th century as a fight between Protestants and Catholics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

He returned again for the last series of the regular season, firmly in a battle for a postseason roster spot as a bat off the bench, and went hitless in three at-bats.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026

Nixon faces an uphill battle headed into November.

From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2026

As the former chief executive officer of Google, Eric Schmidt is well-positioned to assess the state of play between the U.S. and China in the battle for AI superpower status.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026

Watching her lose her battle with the box was almost as frustrating as the throbbing on his face.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

That’s the motto of the Texas Longhorns and Texas soldiers’ cry in the Battle of Gonzales, which kicked off the Texas Revolution.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

The 1966 Battle of Hastings re-enactment that got real.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

The medieval embroidery, which is on display in Britain for the first time, depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England and the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

Accounts of the Battle of Hengyang are scarce, particularly in English.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

They fought in Sherman’s devastating “March to the Sea” and in the last battle of the Civil War at the Battle of Columbus on the Georgia-Alabama border.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

The defence and prosecution have fought a series of legal battles in the approach to Marimi's trial, which is now scheduled to get underway on 19 January after three postponements.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026

Legislative battles over the fate of the cultural tradition that's nearly as old as Central Park itself have been ongoing for nearly two decades.

From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026

Her coverage also spans high-stakes litigation, novel legal strategies, and court battles that impact business and the economy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026

The filmmakers followed the heated battles as people in the divided community resorted to screaming and name-calling.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

So it must have rubbed him the wrong way to see Elizebeth winning battles against smugglers and gangsters in the 1920s and 1930s.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

Immigration lawyers say their clients are facing more intense scrutiny and that some have battled false accusations of fraud after applying for a green card or citizenship.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

But business leaders have grown impatient with the slow pace of reforms as German companies have battled high energy prices, US tariffs and stiff Chinese competition, particularly in Germany's renowned automotive sector.

From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026

Southern California braced for another day of Santa Ana winds as firefighters battled a fire burning in Malibu.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Bauers was a hero in Game 2, when he battled Yoshinobu Yamamoto for more than seven minutes, seeing 12 pitches before drawing a critical walk to load the bases.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Therefore Major Puff was preventing himself from living his life based on a fear of an enemy he hadn’t yet battled.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

In response, he created a series of photographic collages that showed Black boxers battling corporate towers — figures that generate wealth attempting to take down the symbols of its accumulation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

Fire crews were still battling the blaze late into the night, while eyewitnesses captured the dramatic moment the tower's turret fell.

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026

I grew up within driving distance of several of my cousins and spent vacations with them at my grandparents’ home, playing in the pool and battling over board games.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

The smoke is a direct consequence of the fires, which four people lost their lives battling in East Java's Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park on Thursday, Indonesia's forestry ministry said in a statement.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

At Wallangarra, fighting injustice meant battling Dr. Cooper.

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

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Related Words

• action
• assault
• attack
• bloodshed
• bombing
• campaign
• clash
• combat
• conflict
• crusade
• encounter
• fighting
• hostility
• skirmish
• strife
• struggle
• war
• warfare

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