battles

Noun

battle (plural battles)

1. A contest, a struggle.
   • the battle of life
   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...
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...

See all 16 meanings of battle