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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Recent Examples of melee
Florida has a tremendous opportunity to respond to its first defeat of the season, a 106-100 melee at Kentucky.
—
Steven Louis Goldstein, The Athletic, 8 Jan. 2025
The goal was counted by the officials and a melee ensued after that.
—Dan Perry, Newsweek, 3 Jan. 2025
Among the games Butler missed was Sunday night’s 104-100 victory over the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center, a game that ended with a melee that left Heat guards Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier ejected, with Rozier suspended by the NBA for Wednesday night’s game.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 1 Jan. 2025
Then at episode’s end, a melee took out several more players.
—Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 26 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for melee 
Steven Louis Goldstein, The Athletic, 8 Jan. 2025
The goal was counted by the officials and a melee ensued after that.
—Dan Perry, Newsweek, 3 Jan. 2025
Among the games Butler missed was Sunday night’s 104-100 victory over the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center, a game that ended with a melee that left Heat guards Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier ejected, with Rozier suspended by the NBA for Wednesday night’s game.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 1 Jan. 2025
Then at episode’s end, a melee took out several more players.
—Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 26 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for melee
Thesaurus Entries Near melee
Cite this Entry
“Melee.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/melee. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
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