melee
UK /ˈmɛˌleɪ/ · US /ˈmeɪˌleɪ/ noun, verb, adjective
Forms melees meleeing meleed
- noun (especially military, gaming) A battle fought at close range, (especially) one not involving ranged weapons; hand-to-hand combat; brawling.
- noun A loud, confused or tumultuous fight, argument or scrap.
- noun Any confused, disorganised, disordered or chaotic situation.
- noun Lively contention or debate, skirmish.
- noun (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.
- noun Small cut and polished gemstones sold in lots.
- verb (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.
- adjective (gaming) Of a weapon: used in close-range combat, e.g. a sword. Compare with ranged.
- adjective (gaming) Of a character, using melee weapons.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from French mêlée, from Old French meslee, feminine past participle of mesler (“to mix”), derived from Latin misceō (“mix”). Doublet of medley.
Borrowed from French mêlée.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A fight in which the combatants are mingled
Etymology [F., fr. mêler to mix. See Meddle, Mell, and cf. Mellay.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “melee”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details