Battle

/ˈbætl̩/ · noun

Meaning

A contest, a struggle..

Definitions by Sense

1. A contest, a struggle.
2. (military) A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; a combat, an engagement.
3. (military, now rare) A division of an army; a battalion.
4. (military, obsolete) The main body of an army, as distinct from the vanguard and rear; the battalia.
5. (military) Clipping of battle buddy.
6. (intransitive) To join in battle; to contend in fight
7. (transitive) To fight or struggle; to enter into a battle with.
8. Of grass or pasture: nutritious to cattle or sheep; fattening, nourishing.

Example Sentences

the battle of life

I returned, and saw vnder the Sunne, That the race is not to the swift, nor the battell to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of vnderstanding, nor yet fauour to men of skil; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

[T]he whole intellectual battle that had at its centre the best poem of the best poet of that day, and had the English Revolution among issues of the strife, was quickening the energies within young Foe's [i.e., Daniel Defoe's] mind when his age was twenty.

In truth, Tottenham never really looked like taking all three points and this defeat means they face a battle to reach the knockout stages – with their next home game against PAOK Salonika on 30 November likely to prove decisive.

Australian broadcaster Clive James has admitted that he is losing his long-fought battle with leukaemia.

Thenne kyng Arthur made redy his hooſt in x batails and Nero was redy in the felde afore the caſtel Tarabil with a grete hooſt / & he had x batails with many mo peple than Arthur had […]

They ſay, that the King diuided his Armie into three Battailes; whereof the Vant-guard onely well ſtrengthened with wings, came to fight.

Already Cæſar Has ravaged more than half the Globe, and ſees Mankind grown thin by his deſtructive Sword: Should he go further, Numbers would be wanting To form new Battels, and ſupport his Crimes.

Synonyms for battle

Antonyms for battle

Related Words

Word Forms

• battles
• batail
• battel
• battell
• battling
• battled
• more battle
• most battle
• battil
• battill
• baittle
• bettle
• batwell

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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