skirmish

[ skur-mish ]

noun

1. Military. a fight between small bodies of troops, especially advanced or outlying detachments of opposing armies.

   Synonyms: brush, combat

2. any brisk conflict or encounter:

   She had a skirmish with her landlord about the rent.

verb (used without object)

1. to engage in a skirmish.

skirmish

/ ˈskɜːmɪʃ /

noun

1. a minor short-lived military engagement
2. any brisk clash or encounter, usually of a minor nature

verb

1. introften foll bywith to engage in a skirmish

Derived Forms

• ˈskirmisher, noun

Other Words From

• skirmish·er noun
• outskirmish verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of skirmish¹

1300–50; (noun) Middle English skirmysshe < Old French eskirmiss-, long stem of eskirmir < Germanic (compare Old High German skirman ); replacing Middle English scarmouche < Old French escaramoucher ( Scaramouch ); (v.) late Middle English scarmuchen, scarmusshen to skirmish, Middle English skirmisshen to brandish a weapon < Old French escar ( a ) mucher to skirmish; vowels influenced by Old French eskirmiss-

Word History and Origins

Origin of skirmish¹

C14: from Old French eskirmir, of Germanic origin; related to Old High German skirmen to defend

Synonym Study

See battle ¹.

Example Sentences

More broadly, however, this skirmish also shows the growing importance of visual disinformation as a political tool.

From MIT Technology Review

There have been skirmishes in courts across the country in recent years over whether employers can require workers to get a flu shot.

From Fortune

Reinoehl shot Danielson near the end of that Saturday of street skirmishes between antifascists and right-wingers.

From ProPublica

These early skirmishes will determine whether DeFi can live up to its aspirational potential as an alternative, open source financial system.

From Fortune

After multiple skirmishes between Apple and developers, regulators have started playing closer attention.

From Fortune

And earlier that day, the 43-year-old had earned the précis, breaking up a skirmish by the Staten Island Ferry.

From The Daily Beast

As we hear in Mark 15:7, he was apparently an insurrectionist, an anti-Roman revolutionary, and had killed someone in a skirmish.

From The Daily Beast

A half-an-hour earlier they had been caught in the middle of a mortar barrage in a skirmish with separatists.

From The Daily Beast

That is a high death toll for Hezbollah in a skirmish inside Lebanon on its home territory.

From The Daily Beast

The brief skirmish between Hamas and Israel in 2012 also ended with Hamas still in place.

From The Daily Beast

As they neared Paris, they heard firing, and became aware a slight skirmish was in progress.

From Project Gutenberg

He was a mere boy, who, in a rash skirmish with some of our hussars, was wounded severely and taken prisoner.

From Project Gutenberg

A couple of miles out of the town, in the neighbourhood of La Paz, the entrenched enemy was routed after a slight skirmish.

From Project Gutenberg

The post-office strike has already shown us what deplorable disasters even a skirmish can bring about.

From Project Gutenberg

First, though, I'd like to present you a decoration to commemorate your part in this skirmish, Wes.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• altercation
• argument
• battle
• bout
• brawl
• clash
• combat
• conflict
• confrontation
• disagreement
• dispute
• encounter
• feud
• fisticuffs
• fracas
• melee
• quarrel
• run-in
• scuffle
• strife