battle
see also: Battle
Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈbætəl/, [ˈbatʰɫ̩]
  • (America) enPR: băt'l, IPA: /ˈbætl̩/, [ˈbæɾɫ̩], [bætɫ̩]
Noun

battle (plural battles)

  1. A contest#Noun|contest, a struggle#Noun|struggle.
    the battle of life
  2. (military) A general#Adjective|general action, fight#Noun|fight, or encounter#Noun|encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; a combat#Noun|combat, an engagement.
  3. (military, now, rare) A division of an army; a battalion.
    • [a. 1472, Thomas Malory, “Capitulum x”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book II (in Middle English), [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, OCLC 71490786 ↗, leaf 43, verso; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: Published by David Nutt, […], 1889, OCLC 890162034 ↗, lines 28–31, page 86 ↗:
      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 [...]
      Then {{w]
    • 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: Printed by W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, OCLC 1086746628 ↗, page 35 ↗:
      They ſay, that the King diuided his Armie into three Battailes; whereof the Vant-guard onely well ſtrengthened with wings, came to fight.
  4. (military, obsolete) The main#Adjective|main body of an army, as distinct from the vanguard and rear#Noun|rear; the battalia.
Related terms Translations Translations Verb

battle (battles, present participle battling; 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.
Related terms Translations Translations Adjective

battle

  1. (UK dialectal, chiefly, Scotland, Northern England, agriculture) Improving; nutritious; fattening.
    battle grass, battle pasture
  2. (UK dialectal, chiefly, Scotland, Northern England) Fertile; fruitful.
    battle soil, battle land
Verb

battle (battles, present participle battling; past and past participle battled)

  1. (transitive, UK dialectal, chiefly, Scotland, Northern England) To nourish; feed.
  2. (transitive, UK dialectal, chiefly, Scotland, Northern England) To render (for example soil) fertile or fruitful
Related terms
Battle
Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈbætəɫ/
Proper noun
  1. Surname from places in England that have been sites of a battle.
  2. A place name
    1. A town in East Sussex, United Kingdom; supposed site of the Battle of Hastings.
    2. A river in Saskatchewan, Canada



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