Library / English Dictionary

SKIRMISH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A minor short-term fight

Synonyms:

brush; clash; encounter; skirmish

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("skirmish" is a kind of...):

combat; fight; fighting; scrap (the act of fighting; any contest or struggle)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "skirmish"):

contretemps (an awkward clash)

Derivation:

skirmish (engage in a skirmish)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Engage in a skirmish

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "skirmish" is one way to...):

contend; fight; struggle (be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

skirmish (a minor short-term fight)

skirmisher (someone who skirmishes (e.g., as a member of a scouting party))

Credits

 Context examples: 

Everything went on smoothly till the day before the fair opened, then there occurred one of the little skirmishes which it is almost impossible to avoid, when some five-and-twenty women, old and young, with all their private piques and prejudices, try to work together.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

If I had my wish, it would be to fall so—not, mark you, in any mere skirmish of the Company, but in a stricken field, with the great lion banner waving over us and the red oriflamme in front, amid the shouting of my fellows and the twanging of the strings.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

For similar reasons I made no allusion to the skirmishing plates upon the floor; or to the disreputable appearance of the castors, which were all at sixes and sevens, and looked drunk; or to the further blockade of Traddles by wandering vegetable dishes and jugs.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The English played well, but the Americans played better, and contested every inch of the ground as strongly as if the spirit of '76 inspired them. Jo and Fred had several skirmishes and once narrowly escaped high words. Jo was through the last wicket and had missed the stroke, which failure ruffled her a good deal. Fred was close behind her and his turn came before hers. He gave a stroke, his ball hit the wicket, and stopped an inch on the wrong side. No one was very near, and running up to examine, he gave it a sly nudge with his toe, which put it just an inch on the right side.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

By Saint Paul! you have spoken very well, said Sir Nigel, and I have always heard that there were very worthy gentlemen among the Scots, and fine skirmishing to be had upon their border.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mon Dieu! yes, ye would not credit it to look at him, or to hearken to his soft voice, but from the sailing from Orwell down to the foray to Paris, and that is clear twenty years, there was not a skirmish, onfall, sally, bushment, escalado or battle, but Sir Nigel was in the heart of it.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)