duel

noun
/ˈˈd͡ʒuːəl//ˈdul/US

Etymology

From Medieval Latin duellum (“fight between two men, duel”), itself from Old Latin duellum (“war, fight”), which survived in Classical Latin as a rare byform of bellum and was later reinterpreted as “duel” by unetymological association with duo (“two”). May have entered English through Middle French duel.

  1. derived from duel
  2. derived from duellum — “war, fight
  3. derived from duellum — “fight between two men, duel

Definitions

  1. Arranged, regular combat between two private persons, often over a matter of honor.

    • I have often thought since, how different my fate might have been, had I not fallen in love with Nora at that early age; and had I not flung the wine in Quin’s face, and so brought on the duel.
    • Of course, not all the Railway Members were men of such talent. One member was "chiefly eminent as a whist player," and another was known for his duel with a fellow M.P. fought at Wormwood Scrubs in 1840.
    • It has been 200 years, minus a few days, since Vice President Aaron Burr fatally shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel here. Weehawken and the duel have been tied together in an often-uncomfortable knot ever since.
  2. Historically, the wager of battle (judicial combat).

  3. Any battle or struggle between two contending persons, forces, groups, or ideas.

    • a sniper duel
    • But it leaves them with a few destroyers, the American destroyer force is falling back, and then you have the two cruiser lines with their respective battleships coming in for the big duel.
    • Apple comes out swinging in the duel of the data titans [title]
  4. + 1 more definition
    1. To engage in a battle.

      • The two dogs were duelling for the bone.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for duel. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA