Skirmish \Skir"mish\, n.[OE. scarmishe, scrymishe. See
Skirmish, v. i.]
1. A slight fight in war; a light or desultory combat between
detachments from armies, or between detached and small
bodies of troops.
[1913 Webster]
2. A slight contest.
[1913 Webster]
They never meet but there's a skirmish of wit.
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Skirmish \Skir"mish\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Skirmished; p. pr. &
vb. n. Skirmishing.] [OE. skirmishen, scarmishen, OF.
escremir, eskermir, to fence, fight, F. escrimer, of German
origin; cf. OHG. scirmen to protect, defend, G. schirmen,
OHG. scirm, scerm, protection, shield, G. schirm; perhaps
akin to Gr. ???? a sunshade. Cf. Scaramouch, Scrimmage.]
To fight slightly or in small parties; to engage in a
skirmish or skirmishes; to act as skirmishers.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
skirmish
n : a minor short-term fight [syn: brush, clash, encounter]
v : engage in a skirmish
WordNet (r) 2.0
83 Moby Thesaurus words for "skirmish":
action, aerial combat, affray, ambush, armored combat, assault,
attack, battle, battle royal, box, brawl, broil, brush, bullfight,
clash, clash of arms, close, cockfight, collide, combat,
come to blows, conflict, confrontation, contend, contest,
cut and thrust, dogfight, duel, embroilment, encounter, engagement,
exchange blows, exchange of blows, fence, feud, fight,
fight a duel, fire fight, fracas, fray, give and take,
give satisfaction, grapple, grapple with, ground combat,
hand-to-hand combat, hand-to-hand fight, house-to-house combat,
jostle, joust, melee, mix it up, naval combat, passage of arms,
pitched battle, quarrel, rassle, riot, rumble, run a tilt, run-in,
running fight, scramble, scrap, scrimmage, scuffle, set-to,
shoving match, showdown, spar, stand-up fight, street fight,
strive, struggle, tauromachy, thrust and parry, tilt, tourney,
tug-of-war, tussle, wage war, war, wrestle
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
brush, clash, encounter
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