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skirmish.

A brief battle between small groups, usually part of a longer or larger battle or war.

8 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈskɜːmɪʃ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈskɝmɪʃ/General-American
  1. A brief battle between small groups, usually part of a longer or larger battle or war.

  2. Any minor dispute.

    broadly · figuratively
    Three people were arrested after a skirmish in a bar.
  3. A type of outdoor military style game using paintball or similar weapons.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English skirmish (as a verb), from Old French escarmouche (“skirmish”), from Italian scaramuccia, earlier schermugio. Doublet of escarmouche, Scaramouche, and Scaramucci.

verb/ˈskɜːmɪʃ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈskɝmɪʃ/General-American
  1. To engage in a minor battle or dispute.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English skirmish (as a verb), from Old French escarmouche (“skirmish”), from Italian scaramuccia, earlier schermugio. Doublet of escarmouche, Scaramouche, and Scaramucci.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.