AFFRAY

affray, disturbance, fray, ruffle

(noun) a noisy fight

affray, altercation, fracas

(noun) noisy quarrel

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

affray (third-person singular simple present affrays, present participle affraying, simple past and past participle affrayed)

(archaic, transitive) To startle from quiet; to alarm.

(archaic, transitive) To frighten; to scare; to frighten away.

Noun

affray (countable and uncountable, plural affrays)

The act of suddenly disturbing anyone; an assault or attack.

A tumultuous assault or quarrel.

The fighting of two or more persons, in a public place, to the terror of others.

(obsolete) Terror.

Synonyms

• fray, brawl

• alarm, terror, fright

Source: Wiktionary


Af*fray", v. t. [p. p. Affrayed.] Etym: [OE. afraien, affraien, OF. effreer, esfreer, F. effrayer, orig. to disquiet, put out of peace, fr. L. ex + OHG. fridu peace (akin to E. free). Cf. Afraid, Fray, Frith inclosure.] [Archaic]

1. To startle from quiet; to alarm. Smale foules a great heap That had afrayed [affrayed] me out of my sleep. Chaucer.

2. To frighten; to scare; to frighten away. That voice doth us affray. Shak.

Af*fray", n. Etym: [OE. afrai, affrai, OF. esfrei, F. effroi, fr. OF. esfreer. See Affray, v. t.]

1. The act of suddenly disturbing any one; an assault or attack. [Obs.]

2. Alarm; terror; fright. [Obs.] Spenser.

3. A tumultuous assault or quarrel; a brawl; a fray. "In the very midst of the affray." Motley.

4. (Law)

Definition: The fighting of two or more persons, in a public place, to the terror of others. Blackstone.

Note: A fighting in private is not, in a legal sense, an affray.

Syn.

– Quarrel; brawl; scuffle; encounter; fight; contest; feud; tumult; disturbance.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

23 June 2025

PEOPLE

(noun) members of a family line; “his people have been farmers for generations”; “are your people still alive?”


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the most massive cup of coffee contained 22,739.14 liters and was created by Alcaldía Municipal de Chinchiná (Colombia) at Parque de Bolívar, Chinchiná, Caldas, Colombia, on 15 June 2019. Fifty people worked for more than a month to build this giant cup. The drink prepared was Arabic coffee.

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