• (British) IPA: /ˈbætəl/, [ˈbatʰɫ̩]
• (America) enPR: băt'l, IPA: /ˈbætl̩/, [ˈbæɾɫ̩], [bætɫ̩]

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.

• battlement

• French: lutte, bataille
• German: Schlacht, Kampf, Gefecht
• Italian: battaglia
• Portuguese: batalha
• Russian: би́тва
• Spanish: batalla, lucha

• French: lutte
• German: Kampf
• Italian: lotta
• Portuguese: luta
• Russian: борьба́

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.

• embattle

• French: lutter
• German: kämpfen
• Portuguese: batalhar
• Russian: сража́ться
• Spanish: luchar, batallar

• German: bekämpfen, bekriegen
• Spanish: batallar

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

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

• batful
• batten

• (British) IPA: /ˈbætəɫ/

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