MELEE

melee, scrimmage, battle royal

(noun) a noisy riotous fight

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

melee (countable and uncountable, plural melees)

A battle fought at close range; hand-to-hand combat; brawling.

A noisy, confused or tumultuous fight, argument or scrap.

Any any confused, disorganised, disordered or chaotic situation.

Lively contention or debate, skirmish.

(military, historical) 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.

Small cut and polished gemstones sold in lots.

Verb

melee (third-person singular simple present melees, present participle meleeing, simple past and past participle meleed)

(video games, slang) To physically hit in close quarters, as opposed to shooting, blowing up, or other ranged means of damage. Often refers to the usage of a hand-to-hand weapon.

Source: Wiktionary

Mê`lée", n. Etym: [F., fr. mêler to mix. See Meddle, Mell, and cf. Mellay.]

Definition: A fight in which the combatants are mingled

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition