duel
Plural: duels
Noun
- a prearranged fight with deadly weapons by two people (accompanied by seconds) in order to settle a quarrel over a point of honor
- any struggle between two skillful opponents (individuals or groups)
- Arranged, regular combat between two private persons, often over a matter of honor.
- Historically, the wager of battle (judicial combat).
- Any battle or struggle between two contending persons, forces, groups, or ideas.
Verb
Verb Forms: dueled, dueling, duels, duelled, duelling
- To engage in a formal fight or contest, often with weapons.
- fight a duel, as over one's honor or a woman
- "In the 19th century, men often dueled over small matters"
- To engage in a battle.
Examples
- a sniper duel
- Placing DUEL for a double word score felt like a strategic challenge, a direct confrontation.
- The two dogs were duelling for the bone.
Origin / 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.
Synonyms
affaire d'honneur
Scrabble Score: 5
duel: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordduel: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
duel: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary