melee

¹

or mê·lée

[ mey-ley, mey-ley, mel-ey ]

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

[ mey-ley, mey-ley ]

noun

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

melee

/ ˈmɛleɪ /

noun

1. a noisy riotous fight or brawl

Word History and Origins

Origin of melee¹

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

Origin of melee²

First recorded in 1910–15; origin uncertain

Word History and Origins

Origin of melee¹

C17: from French mêlée. See medley

Example Sentences

Instead, they were convicted of seditious conspiracy and other felonies for organising the melee.

From BBC

By about 1:45 a.m., several mobile response squads waded into the melee to try to separate protesters and counterprotesters who’d converged near a flagpole.

From Los Angeles Times

Some arriving teams of officers did not even know their way around the sprawling campus and were subjected to conflicting orders about what to do as the melee unfolded for hours in front of them the night of April 30.

From Los Angeles Times

Holly had 36 knife injuries, the blade snapping in the melee, and another boy who tried to pull MacPhail away was stabbed.

From BBC

Retailleau said "400 to 600" people were involved in the melee.

From BBC

Related Words

• brawl
• brouhaha
• clash
• fracas
• free-for-all
• ruckus
• scrimmage
• scuffle
• skirmish
• tussle