Mel'ee \M[^e]`l['e]e"\ (m[asl]`l[asl]"), n. [F., fr. m[^e]ler to
mix. See Meddle, Mell, and cf. Mellay.]
1. A fight in which the combatants are mingled in one
confused mass; a hand to hand conflict; an affray.
[1913 Webster]
2. A cavalry exercise in which two groups of riders try to
cut paper plumes off the helmets of their opponents, the
contest continuing until no member of one group retains
his plume; -- sometimes called Balaklava m[^e]l['e]e.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
melee
n : a noisy riotous fight [syn: scrimmage, battle royal]
WordNet (r) 2.0
53 Moby Thesaurus words for "melee":
ado, bother, brawl, broil, brouhaha, brush, commotion, disturbance,
dogfight, donnybrook, donnybrook fair, dustup, embroilment, fight,
foofaraw, fracas, fray, free-for-all, fuss, hash, hassle,
helter-skelter, hodgepodge, hubbub, jumble,
knock-down-and-drag-out, medley, melange, mishmash, pastiche,
pell-mell, pother, potpourri, racket, rampage, riot,
rough-and-tumble, roughhouse, row, ruckus, ruction, rumpus,
scramble, scrimmage, shindy, skirmish, stew, stir, to-do, trouble,
tumult, turmoil, uproar
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
battle royal, scrimmage
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