Word.ws English Dictionary

running battle

running battle noun: a fight that moves, with attacks occurring in various places.

Noun

running battle (plural running battles)

  1. A fight that moves, with attacks occurring in various places.
    • A ferocious running battle now developed between the Heinkels and their escort and the Spitfires and Hurricanes of 72, 605, 41 and 79 Squadrons.2010, Richard Hough, Denis Richards, The Battle of Britain, page 174
    • But that's a running battle down Rossville Street!2015, Greg McLaughlin, Stephen Baker, The British Media and Bloody Sunday
  2. A conflict that continues over a long period of time, usually with periodic eruptions of fighting.
    • Not only did they not get on, but they also had a constant running battle which had become increasingly bitter over time.2007, Belinda Brewin, Trouble Brewin - A True Story of Sex, Murder, Love and Betrayal
    • I have fought a running battle with medicine for much of my career. I have wanted to leave it for poetry.2016, Glenn Colquhoun, Late Love

Examples of running battle in a sentence

  • At the battle of Oriskany on August 6, 1777, Native American forces sprang their ambush on passing militia too soon, resulting in a ferocious running battle through surrounding woodland.2021, Robbie MacNiven, Battle Tactics of the American Revolution, page 24:
  • Prue delivers herself of a capsule account of her running battle with the barons of Big Pharma.2019, John le Carré, Agent Running in the Field:

Forms of running battle

pluralrunning battles

Questions about running battle

What does running battle mean?
Running battle means a fight that moves, with attacks occurring in various places.
How do you use running battle in a sentence?
At the battle of Oriskany on August 6, 1777, Native American forces sprang their ambush on passing militia too soon, resulting in a ferocious running battle through surrounding woodland.
What part of speech is running battle?
Running battle is a noun.
What is the plural of running battle?
The plural of running battle is running battles.

Words near running battle in the dictionary

  1. running away together
  2. running away with
  3. running back
  4. running backs
  5. running barefoot through
  6. running battle
  7. running battles
  8. running before
  9. running behind
  10. running block
  11. running blocks

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: running battle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “running battle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/running_battle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.