melee
scrimmage
battle royal | a noisy riotous fight |
| struggle battle | an energetic attempt to achieve something, getting through the crowd was a real struggle, he fought a battle for recognition |
battle
conflict fight engagement | a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war, Grant won a decisive victory in the battle of Chickamauga, he lost his romantic ideas about war when he got into a real engagement |
| pitched battle | a fierce battle fought in close combat between troops in predetermined positions at a chosen time and place |
| naval battle | a pitched battle between naval fleets |
conflict
struggle battle | an open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals), the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph--Thomas Paine, police tried to control the battle between the pro- and anti-abortion mobs |
| battle of wits | a contest in which intelligence rather than violence is used |
| custody battle | litigation to settle custody of the children of a divorced couple |
Atlanta
battle of Atlanta | a siege in which Federal troops under Sherman cut off the railroads supplying the city and then burned it, |
Austerlitz
battle of Austerlitz | a decisive battle during the Napoleonic campaigns (), the French under Napoleon defeated the Russian armies of Czar Alexander I and the Austrian armies of Emperor Francis II |
| Battle of Britain | the prolonged bombardment of British cities by the German Luftwaffe during World War II and the aerial combat that accompanied it |
| Battle of Kerbala | a battle inin which the grandson of Mohammed and his followers were killed, the Battle of Kerbala is the basis for the Ta'ziyehs that are performed annually |
Battle of the Ardennes Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
Ardennes counteroffensive | a battle during World War II, in December von Rundstedt launched a powerful counteroffensive in the forest at Ardennes and caught the Allies by surprise |
Battle of the Marne
Belleau Wood
Chateau-Thierry
Marne River | a World War I battle in northwestern France where the Allies defeated the Germans in |
Bismarck Sea
battle of the Bismarck Sea | a naval battle in World War II, Allied land-based bombers destroyed a Japanese convoy in the Bismarck Sea in March |
Boyne
battle of Boyne | a battle in the War of the Grand Alliance in Ireland in , William III defeated the deposed James II and so ended the Catholicism that had been reintroduced in England by the Stuarts |
Brunanburh
battle of Brunanburh | a battle in when Athelstan defeated the Scots |
Bull Run
Battle of Bull Run | either of two battles during the American Civil War ( and ), Confederate forces defeated the Federal army in both battles |
Bunker Hill
battle of Bunker Hill | the first important battle of the American War of Independence () which was fought at Breed's Hill, the British defeated the colonial forces |
Caporetto
battle of Caporetto | battle of World War I (), Italians were defeated by the Austrian and German forces |
Chattanooga
battle of Chattanooga | in the American Civil War () the Union armies of Hooker, Thomas, and Sherman under the command of Ulysses S. Grant won a decisive victory over the Confederate Army under Braxton Bragg |
Chickamauga
battle of Chickamauga | a Confederate victory in the American Civil War (), Confederate forces under Braxton Bragg defeated Union forces |
Coral Sea
battle of the Coral Sea | a Japanese defeat in World War II (May ), the first naval battle fought entirely by planes based on aircraft carriers |
Cowpens
battle of Cowpens | battle in the American Revolution, Americans under Daniel Morgan defeated the British |
Crecy
battle of Crecy | the first decisive battle of the Hundred Years' War, in the English under Edward III defeated the French under Philip of Valois |
Cunaxa
battle of Cunaxa | battle inBC when the Artaxerxes II defeated his younger brother who tried to usurp the throne |
Cynoscephalae
battle of Cynoscephalae | the battle that ended the second Macedonian War ( BC), the Romans defeated Philip V who lost his control of Greece |
El Alamein
Al Alamayn
Battle of El Alamein | a pitched battle in World War II () resulting in a decisive Allied victory by British troops under Montgomery over German troops under Rommel |
Flodden
Battle of Flodden Field | a battle in , the English defeated the invading Scots and James IV was killed |
Fontenoy
Battle of Fontenoy | a battle in in which the French army under Marshal Saxe defeated the English army and their allies under the duke of Cumberland |
Fredericksburg
Battle of Fredericksburg | an important battle in the American Civil War (), the Union Army under A. E. Burnside was defeated by the Confederate Army under Robert E. Lee |
Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg | a battle of the American Civil War (), the defeat of Robert E. Lee's invading Confederate Army was a major victory for the Union |
Granicus
Battle of Granicus River | the battle in which Alexander won his first major victory against the Persians ( BC) |
Guadalcanal
Battle of Guadalcanal | a battle in World War II in the Pacific (-), the island was occupied by the Japanese and later recaptured by American forces |
Hastings
battle of Hastings | the decisive battle in which William the Conqueror (duke of Normandy) defeated the Saxons under Harold II () and thus left England open for the Norman Conquest |
Hohenlinden
battle of Hohenlinden | a battle during the Napoleonic Wars (), the French defeated the Austrians |
Ipsus
battle of Ipsus | a battle between the successors of Alexander the Great ( BC), Lysimachus and Seleucus defeated Antigonus and Demetrius |
Issus
battle of Issus | a battle ( BC) in which Alexander the Great defeated the Persians under Darius III |
Ivry
battle of Ivry
Ivry la Bataille | a battle () in which the Huguenots under Henry IV defeated the Catholics under the duke of Mayenne |
Jena
Battle of Jena | the battle inin which Napoleon decisively defeated the Prussians |
Jutland
battle of Jutland | an indecisive naval battle in World War I (), fought between the British and German fleets off the northwestern coast of Denmark |
Lake Trasimenus
Battle of Lake Trasimenus | a battle in BC in which Hannibal ambushed a Roman army led by Flaminius |
Langside
battle of Langside | () Catholic forces supporting Mary Queen of Scots were routed by Protestants |
Lepanto
Battle of Lepanto | Turkish sea power was destroyed in by a league of Christian nations organized by the Pope |
Leuctra
battle of Leuctra | Thebes defeated Sparta in BC, the battle ended Sparta's military supremacy in Greece |
Little Bighorn
Battle of Little Bighorn
Battle of the Little Bighorn
Custer's Last Stand | a battle in Montana near the Little Bighorn River between United States cavalry under Custer and several groups of Native Americans (), Custer was pursuing Sioux led by Sitting Bull, Custer underestimated the size of the Sioux forces (which were supported by Cheyenne warriors) and was killed along with all his command |
Lule Burgas
battle of Lule Burgas | the principal battle of the Balkan Wars (), Bulgarian forces defeated the Turks |
Lutzen
battle of Lutzen | a battle in the Thirty Years' War (), Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeated the Holy Roman Empire under Wallenstein, Gustavus Adolphus was killed |
Magenta
Battle of Magenta | a battle in in which the French and Sardinian forces under Napoleon III defeated the Austrians under Francis Joseph I |
Maldon
Battle of Maldon | a battle in which the Danes defeated the Saxons in , celebrated in an old English poem |