Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use scuffle in a sentence

19 example sentences · noun, verb

Scuffle means a rough, disorderly fight or struggle at close quarters. Example: “Their longstanding antagonism is manifested in frequent scuffles and shouting matches.”

Examples of scuffle by meaning

nounA rough, disorderly fight or struggle at close quarters.

  • Intermittent scuffles continued to break out until the section of the crowd where the trouble started was vacated.2016 June 11, Phil McNulty, “England 1–1 Russia”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 13 Jun 2016

verbTo walk with a shuffling gait.

  • Cope presently found himself scuffling through the thin grass and the briery thickets alongside the young business-man.1919, Henry B[lake] Fuller, “Cope at His House Party”, in Bertram Cope’s Year: A Novel, Chicago, Ill.: Ralph Fletcher Seymour, The...

More sentences with scuffle

  • Their longstanding antagonism is manifested in frequent scuffles and shouting matches.From the entry antagonism
  • Did those small creatures scuffling over leaves and roots hear the owls calling, and tremble in fear?2014, James Robertson, 365: Stories. From the entry strigine
  • The Jews and other prisoners shambled along, scuffling their feet, eyes downcast.2013 November 13, April Voytko Kempler, The Altered I: Memoir of Holocaust Survivor Joseph Kempler, LeRue Press (LRP), →ISBN, page 211. From the entry purple triangle
  • Palace had all of the ball and all of the grass, generating a series of close-range scuffles and last-line wrestling matches.2025 March 1, Barney Ronay, “Crystal Palace through after Millwall keeper’s red for head-high tackle on Mateta”, in The Guardian, archived…. From the entry so much for
  • They were too full of the razor-bladed cough that had been trying to take hold of him ever since his scuffle.2013, Jason Mott, The Returned, page 323. From the entry razor-bladed
  • The bottom man of a 'dog pile' in a fraternity house scuffle is in a hospital with a neck dislocation.1948 November 21, Los Angeles Times, Sect. i, p. 20. From the entry dogpile
  • Opening the scullery door, I heard a slight scuffle.a. 1931 (date written), D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “[Nature and Poetical Pieces.] Adolf.”, in Edward D[avid] McDonald, editor, Phoenix…. From the entry dabble
  • There was a quick scuffle within the cabin.1913, Land of Sunshine, page 116. From the entry sneer
  • The assault was captured on the petrol bunk's CCTV cameras, with the footage showing the accused engaging in a physical scuffle with the cashier.2026 February 14, “Mysuru: Five armed men assault petrol bunk staff, rob ₹15,300”, in Hindustan Times, archived from the original on 20…. From the entry petrol bunk
  • After numerous rough but not lethal hand-to-hand scuffles in the past, the island became the epicenter of a pitched battle and weeks-long exchange of fire.2021 March 29, Blake Herzinger, “China’s Military Could Turn Small Clashes Into Major Conflicts”, in Foreign Policy, archived from the…. From the entry Zhenbao Island
  • He took the pause to allow himself time to begin to catalog all the surfaces he may have touched during the scuffle.2001, Stephen White, The Program, Waterville, M.E.: Thorndike Press, →ISBN, page 365. From the entry take
  • In late December a Washington State prisoner was involved in a scuffle with a guard who was trying to take him into the hole.1988 April 2, Ed Mead, “AIDS hysteria sweeps prison guards' union”, in Gay Community News, page 9. From the entry hole
  • But rather than scuffles breaking out, if stories are to be believed, British EV drivers resort to leaving notes and icy stares when the offending ICE driver returns.2017 May 18, James Foxall, “Electric car drivers face queues and quarrels”, in The Daily Telegraph, archived from the original on 02 Aug…. From the entry ice
  • A momentary silence followed, and then I heard tiny gasps and frightened tskings, scuffling footsteps, the rustling of rain slickers, and the annoyed mumbling of the priest.2004, Rosemary Mahoney, The Singular Pilgrim: Travels on Sacred Ground, page 83. From the entry tsking
  • Four men and a woman were arrested and charged with breaches of the peace after a series of scuffles in which protesters and police received minor injuries.2003 October 24, Aban Contractor et al., “Why a world leader used the servants' entrance”, in Sydney Morning Herald, retrieved 06 Oct 2012. From the entry breach of the peace
  • The Murder Hole is the thing for me—that tells no tales—a single scuffle—a single plunge—and the fellow is dead and buried to your hand in a moment.1989, Islay Murray Donaldson, The Life and Work of Samuel Rutherford Crockett, page 122. From the entry murder hole
  • She dies before Anita can explain that it's unnecessary; but in a scuffle, one of the werelions is mortally wounded, and Anita uses his death to call up her power.2011, Candace R. Benefiel, Reading Laurell K. Hamilton, page 60. From the entry werelion

Meaning of scuffle

  1. noun A rough, disorderly fight or struggle at close quarters.
  2. noun Poverty; struggle.
  3. noun A child's pinafore or bib.

Full definition of scuffle

Questions about scuffle in a sentence

How do you use scuffle in a sentence?
Scuffle is used as a noun and verb. For example: “Their longstanding antagonism is manifested in frequent scuffles and shouting matches.”
What is a short sentence with scuffle?
“There was a quick scuffle within the cabin.”
What does scuffle mean?
Scuffle means a rough, disorderly fight or struggle at close quarters.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: scuffle (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use scuffle in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/scuffle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.