battle

Noun

battle (plural battles)

1. A contest, a struggle.
   • the battle of life
   • I returned, and saw vnder the Sunne, That the race is not to the swift, nor the battell to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of vnderstanding, nor yet fauour to men of skil; but time and chance happeneth to them all.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 9:11
   1. A one-on-one competition in rapping or breakdance.
2. A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; a combat, an engagement.

   Synonyms:

   field

3. (archaic) A division of an army; a battalion.
   • Thenne kyng Arthur made redy his hooſt in x batails and Nero was redy in the felde afore the caſtel Tarabil with a grete hooſt / & he had x batails with many mo peple than Arthur had […][1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum x”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book II (in Middle English), [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC, leaf 43, verso...
   • They ſay, that the King diuided his Armie into three Battailes; whereof the Vant-guard onely well ſtrengthened with wings, came to fight.1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret...
4. (obsolete) The main body of an army, as distinct from the vanguard and rear; the battalia.
   • Iohn Duke of Norfolke, Thomas Earle of Surrey,
     Shall haue the leading of the Foot and Horſe.
     They thus directed, we will fllow ^([sic])
     In the maine Battell, whose puiſſance on either ſide
     Shall be well-winged with our cheefeſt Horſe:
     This, and Saint George to boote.c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
   • hovering aloofe in the fields he suffered Wyat his Van and main Battell (cutting off some of the Reare) to march undisturbed save with one shot, from Knights-Bridge to Charing Chrosse.1655, Thomas Fuller, The church-history of Britain from the birth of Jesus Christ until the year M.DC.XLVIII, Book VIII, Century XVI, Section I, §36

Verb (1)

battle (third-person singular simple present battles, present participle battling, simple past and past participle battled)

1. (intransitive) To join in battle; to contend in fight
   • Scientists always battle over theories.
   • She has been battling against cancer for years.
2. (transitive) To fight or struggle; to enter into a battle with.
   • She has been battling cancer for years.

Adjective

battle (comparative more battle, superlative most battle)

1. Of grass or pasture: nutritious to cattle or sheep; fattening, nourishing.
   • battle grass battle pasture

   Synonyms:

   batten, improving

2. (broadly) Of land (originally pastureland) or soil: fertile, fruitful.
   • battle land battle soil

   Synonyms:

   batten

Verb (2)

battle (third-person singular simple present battles, present participle battling, simple past and past participle battled)

1. (Northern England, Scotland, UK, dialectal, transitive) To feed or nourish (someone or something).
2. (Northern England, Scotland, UK, dialectal, transitive) To render (land, soil, etc.) fertile or fruitful.
   • To Devonſhire or Denſhire land. That is, to pare off the ſurface or top turf thereof, and to lay it upon heaps and burn it; vvhich aſhes are a marvelous improvement to battle barren land, by reaſon of the fixt ſalt vvhich they contain.1670, J[ohn] R[ay], “Out of Doctour Fullers Worthies of England, such as are Not Entred Already in the Catalogues. [Devonshire.]”, in A Collection of English Proverbs […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire...

Proper noun capitalized: Battle

UK/ˈbætəɫ/

Battle

1. A habitational surname from Middle English from places in England that have been sites of a battle.
2. A town and civil parish with a town council in Rother district, East Sussex, England; supposed site of the Battle of Hastings (OS grid ref TQ7416).
3. A hamlet in Yscir community, Powys, Wales (OS grid ref SO0131).
4. A river in Saskatchewan, Canada: see Battle River.
5. (historical) A ghost town in Carbon County, Wyoming, United States.