dogfight

noun

dog·​fight ˈdȯg-ˌfīt 

1

: a fight between dogs

broadly : a fiercely disputed contest

2

: a fight between two or more fighter planes usually at close quarters

dogfight intransitive verb

dogfighter

ˈdȯg-ˌfī-tər 

noun

Synonyms

• ball game
• battle
• combat
• competition
• conflict
• confrontation
• contention
• contest
• duel
• face-off
• grapple
• match
• rivalry
• strife
• struggle
• sweepstakes
• sweep-stake
• tug-of-war
• war
• warfare

Examples of dogfight in a Sentence

He was shot down in a dogfight over enemy territory.

The election has turned into a real dogfight.

Recent Examples on the Web

Pakistan scrambled fighter jets, and the two air forces engaged in a dogfight before the crisis ended. —Michael Kugelman, Time, 3 May 2025

Nara’s compelling Cosmic Eyes then followed suit, going for £9 million (high estimate: £8 million) at the end of another 10-minute dogfight between four parties. —George Nelson, ARTnews.com, 5 Mar. 2025

Lucas, however, wanted to combine the visceral feeling of high-speed World War II dogfights with the realism of 2001. —Benny Har-Even, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2025

The Knicks passed that test in Game 1 with a dominant fourth quarter that turned a dogfight into a runaway. —Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 20 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1656, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for dogfight

• affright
• airtight
• albite
• alight
• alright
• aplite
• aright
• bainite
• birthright
• bobwhite
• bornite
• bullfight

Kids Definition

dogfight

noun

dog·​fight -ˌfīt 

: a fight at close range between fighter planes

dogfight verb

dogfighter

-ˌfīt-ər 

noun