battle royal

American  

[bat-l roi-uhl] / ˈbæt l ˈrɔɪ əl /

noun

plural

battle royals, battles royal

1. a fight in which more than two combatants are engaged.

2. a cockfight in which three, five, or seven fowl are placed simultaneously in the fighting pit to eliminate each other by death or debilitating injury until only the victor remains in fighting condition.

3. Professional Wrestling. a type of wrestling match in which 15 to 30 wrestlers attempt to stay inside the ring while eliminating competitors by throwing them outside of the ropes until only one wrestler remains and is declared the winner.

4. a heated argument.

   After a while the discussion turned into a battle royal.

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battle royal British  

noun

1. a fight, esp with fists or cudgels, involving more than two combatants; melee

2. a long violent argument

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Etymology

Origin of battle royal

First recorded in 1665–75 in spelling battail Royal

Example Sentences

Everyone expected a production starring two rival queens of the studio era to be an on-set battle royal.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

Naomi Alderman’s new dystopia, ‘The Future,’ finds a new way into the genre she mastered in ‘The Power’: a battle royal of preppers, tech billionaires and cults.

From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2025

What he said is a reminder that legal skirmishes over the particulars of an execution are different from a battle royal over the moral heart of America.

From Slate • Oct. 1, 2024

"There's going to be a battle royal where everybody's trying to throw Andre the Giant out of the ring. And once that happens, if that happens, the campaign resets."

From BBC • Jun. 6, 2023

I had some misgivings over the battle royal, by the way.

From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison