as in brawl
a rough and often noisy fight usually involving several people
a verbal disagreement at the football game soon turned into a general melee involving scores of spectators
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of melee
Four people inside the bar heard the melee, stepped outside to help, and Cashaw, the complaint continues, then opened fire at least 20 times striking all five victims.
—
Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2025
The beating victim, Nicky, runs when the melee starts.
—Russel Honoré, Newsweek, 5 Mar. 2025
Three members of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), including a pregnant woman, were injured in the melee, with one suffering a stroke, CNN’s Serbian affiliate N1 reported.
—Christian Edwards, CNN, 4 Mar. 2025
Some demons fire hellish blasts at you while others leap in with hard-hitting melee attacks.
—Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 9 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for melee
Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2025
The beating victim, Nicky, runs when the melee starts.
—Russel Honoré, Newsweek, 5 Mar. 2025
Three members of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), including a pregnant woman, were injured in the melee, with one suffering a stroke, CNN’s Serbian affiliate N1 reported.
—Christian Edwards, CNN, 4 Mar. 2025
Some demons fire hellish blasts at you while others leap in with hard-hitting melee attacks.
—Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 9 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for melee
Recent Examples of Synonyms for melee
Noun
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Authorities attempted to limit the violence on the Seaside Heights boardwalk over the holiday weekend by imposing a 10 p.m. curfew on unaccompanied minors, but the brawls continued anyway, WABC reported.—
Joseph Wilkinson,
New York Daily News,
26 May 2025
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No one could agree on whether the brawl of as many as nine young men was limited to fists or if its participants were also kicking and stomping.—
Emerson Clarridge,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
23 May 2025
Noun
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Past skirmishes with Pakistan had allowed Modi to construct a triumphalist narrative of strength that played to his domestic audience.—
Vaibhav Vats,
The Atlantic,
21 May 2025
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Fever star Caitlin Clark and Reese got into a skirmish during the game, which sparked boos from the home crowd.—
Chris Branch,
New York Times,
19 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Melee.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/melee. Accessed 2 Jun. 2025.
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