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Synonyms

melee

1 American  
[mey-ley, mey-ley, mel-ey] / ˈmeɪ leɪ, meɪˈleɪ, ˈmɛl eɪ /
Or mêlée

noun

  1. a confused hand-to-hand fight or struggle among several people.

  2. confusion; turmoil; jumble.

    the melee of Christmas shopping.

adjective

  1. Games. of or relating to close-range or hand-to-hand combat, especially in video games and role-playing games, but also in some other tabletop games: You can choose any melee weapon type, but most players prefer daggers since the polearm was nerfed in an expansion last year.

    I don't enjoy playing melee jobs like Monk or Warrior—I prefer to snipe from afar with an archer or even a mage.

    You can choose any melee weapon type, but most players prefer daggers since the polearm was nerfed in an expansion last year.
melee 2 American  
[mey-ley, mey-ley] / ˈmeɪ leɪ, meɪˈleɪ /

noun

  1. a group of diamonds, each weighing less than 0.25 carat.

melee British  
/ ˈmɛleɪ /

noun

  1. a noisy riotous fight or brawl

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of melee1

First recorded in 1640–50; from French mêlée “quarrel, mixture”; medley

Origin of melee2

First recorded in 1910–15; origin uncertain

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.

Gas prices have a habit of making strange bedfellows of geopolitical and financial melees.

From MarketWatch

The contrast was so stark that some PreCheck passengers peeled off from the melee to sign up for a Clear Plus membership on the spot.

From The Wall Street Journal

As the Iranian motorcade left, demonstrators shouted "terrorists!" and surged forward throwing objects, with the police swiftly shoving them -- and the reporters behind -- backwards, as some tumbled over in the melee.

From Barron's

Because the punishments for fighting at the Olympics are so harsh, the brothers likely won’t be starting a melee.

From The Wall Street Journal

I read “Ayton slams home a lot of happiness,” which was a good counter to “Four players involved in Monday’s melee draw suspensions.”

From Los Angeles Times

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.