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skirmish - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English skirmish (as a verb), from Old French escarmouche (“skirmish”), from Italian scaramuccia, earlier schermugio. Doublet of escarmouche, Scaramouche, and Scaramucci.

skirmish (plural skirmishes)

  1. (military) A brief battle between small groups, usually part of a longer or larger battle or war.

    • 1970 April 28, “Chen Pao Battle and Subsequent Threat Campaign”, in The Evolution of Soviet Policy in the Sino-Soviet Border Dispute‎[1], Directorate of Intelligence, published 2007, →OCLC, page 34:

      On 2 March, Chinese border guards with the help of regular PLA forces skillfully ambushed Strelnikov's unit on the ice near Chen Pao, killing him and 30 Soviets in the subsequent skirmish.

    • 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 311, about the church at Pembridge:

      The walls are slitted with embrasures through which bowmen could fire, indicating that the belfry also served as a stronghold during border skirmishes.

  2. (figuratively, by extension) Any minor dispute.

    Three people were arrested after a skirmish in a bar.

    • 1977 February 14, Joseph E. Galvin, “Under Fire”, in The New York Times‎[2]:

      Fires which have heretofore been one‐alarm skirmishes are now multialarm small wars.

  3. A type of outdoor military style game using paintball or similar weapons.

brief battle between small groups

minor dispute

skirmish (third-person singular simple present skirmishes, present participle skirmishing, simple past and past participle skirmished)

  1. To engage in a minor battle or dispute.

    • 2019, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Children of Ruin, Macmillan, page 376:

      Other historians might also remark that […] they have persisted all this time, constantly wrestling and skirmishing and yet never destroying themselves.

to engage in a minor battle or dispute