struggle, battle
(noun) an energetic attempt to achieve something; “getting through the crowd was a real struggle”; “he fought a battle for recognition”
battle, conflict, fight, engagement
(noun) a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war; “Grant won a decisive victory in the battle of Chickamauga”; “he lost his romantic ideas about war when he got into a real engagement”
conflict, struggle, battle
(noun) an open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals); “the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph”--Thomas Paine; “police tried to control the battle between the pro- and anti-abortion mobs”
battle, combat
(verb) battle or contend against in or as if in a battle; “The Kurds are combating Iraqi troops in Northern Iraq”; “We must combat the prejudices against other races”; “they battled over the budget”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Battle
A habitational surname from places in England that have been sites of a battle.
A place name
A town in East Sussex, United Kingdom; supposed site of the Battle of Hastings.
A river in Saskatchewan, Canada
• batlet, battel, tablet
battle (plural battles)
A contest, a struggle.
(military) A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; a combat, an engagement.
(military, now, rare) A division of an army; a battalion.
(military, obsolete) The main body of an army, as distinct from the vanguard and rear; the battalia.
battle (third-person singular simple present battles, present participle battling, simple past and past participle battled)
(intransitive) To join in battle; to contend in fight
(transitive) To fight or struggle; to enter into a battle with.
battle (comparative more battle, superlative most battle)
(UK dialectal, chiefly, Scotland, Northern England, agriculture) Improving; nutritious; fattening.
(UK dialectal, chiefly, Scotland, Northern England) Fertile; fruitful.
battle (third-person singular simple present battles, present participle battling, simple past and past participle battled)
(transitive, UK dialectal, chiefly, Scotland, Northern England) To nourish; feed.
(transitive, UK dialectal, chiefly, Scotland, Northern England) To render (for example soil) fertile or fruitful
• batlet, battel, tablet
Source: Wiktionary
Bat"tle, a.
Definition: Fertile. See Battel, a. [Obs.]
Bat"tle, n. Etym: [OE. bataille, bataile, F. bataille battle, OF., battle, battalion, fr. L. battalia, battualia, the fighting and fencing exercises of soldiers and gladiators, fr. batuere to strike, beat. Cf. Battalia, 1st Battel, and see Batter, v. t. ]
1. A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; an engagement; a combat.
2. A struggle; a contest; as, the battle of life. The whole intellectual battle that had at its center the best poem of the best poet of that day. H. Morley.
3. A division of an army; a battalion. [Obs.] The king divided his army into three battles. Bacon. The cavalry, by way of distinction, was called the battle, and on it alone depended the fate of every action. Robertson.
4. The main body, as distinct from the van and rear; battalia. [Obs.] Hayward.
Note: Battle is used adjectively or as the first part of a self- explaining compound; as, battle brand, a "brand" or sword used in battle; battle cry; battlefield; battle ground; battlearray; battle song. Battle piece, a painting, or a musical composition, representing a battle.
– Battle royal. (a) A fight between several gamecocks, where the one that stands longest is the victor. Grose. (b) A contest with fists or cudgels in which more than two are engaged; a mĂŞlĂ©e. Thackeray.
– Drawn battle, one in which neither party gains the victory.
– To give battle, to attack an enemy.
– To join battle, to meet the attack; to engage in battle.
– Pitched battle, one in which the armies are previously drawn up in form, with a regular disposition of the forces.
– Wager of battle. See under Wager, n.
Syn.
– Conflict; encounter; contest; action. Battle, Combat, Fight, Engagement. These words agree in denoting a close encounter between contending parties. Fight is a word of less dignity than the others. Except in poetry, it is more naturally applied to the encounter of a few individuals, and more commonly an accidental one; as, a street fight. A combat is a close encounter, whether between few or many, and is usually premeditated. A battle is commonly more general and prolonged. An engagement supposes large numbers on each side, engaged or intermingled in the conflict.
Bat"tle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Battled (p. pr. & vb. n. Battling.] Etym: [F. batailler, fr. bataille. See Battle, n.]
Definition: To join in battle; to contend in fight; as, to battle over theories. To meet in arms, and battle in the plain. Prior.
Bat"tle, v. t.
Definition: To assail in battle; to fight.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
18 June 2025
(noun) large South American evergreen tree trifoliate leaves and drupes with nutlike seeds used as food and a source of cooking oil
The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” borrowed in turn from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.
