Word origins - 2ed. J. Ayto. 2005.
Skirmish — Skir mish, n.[OE. scarmishe, scrymishe. See {Skirmish}, v. i.] 1. A slight fight in war; a light or desultory combat between detachments from armies, or between detached and small bodies of troops. [1913 Webster] 2. A slight contest. [1913… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Skirmish — Skir mish, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Skirmished}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Skirmishing}.] [OE. skirmishen, scarmishen, OF. escremir, eskermir, to fence, fight, F. escrimer, of German origin; cf. OHG. scirmen to protect, defend, G. schirmen, OHG. scirm, scerm … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
skirmish — [n] fight altercation, argument, battle, bout, brawl, brush, clash, combat, conflict, confrontation, disagreement, dispute, encounter, engagement, feud, fisticuffs*, fracas, fray, melee, quarrel, row, ruckus, rumble, run in*, scrap*, scuffle,… … New thesaurus
skirmish — ► NOUN ▪ an episode of irregular or unpremeditated fighting. ► VERB ▪ engage in a skirmish. DERIVATIVES skirmisher noun. ORIGIN from Old French eskirmir, from a Germanic verb meaning defend … English terms dictionary
skirmish — [skʉr′mish] n. [ME scarmoch < MFr escharmuche < It scaramuccia < schermire, to fight < Gmc, as in OHG * skirmjan, to protect < skirm, a guard: see SCREEN] 1. a brief fight or encounter between small groups, usually an incident of a … English World dictionary
skirmish — index affray, collision (dispute), commotion, confront (oppose), confrontation (altercation) … Law dictionary
skirmish — n *encounter, brush Analogous words: *contest, conflict, combat, fight, affray, fray: engagement, action, *battle … New Dictionary of Synonyms
skirmish — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ brief, little, minor, small ▪ border ▪ early, first, opening ▪ … Collocations dictionary
skirmish — I UK [ˈskɜː(r)mɪʃ] / US [ˈskɜrmɪʃ] noun [countable] Word forms skirmish : singular skirmish plural skirmishes 1) a fight, especially one that is away from the main fighting in a war An officer was killed in a skirmish with guerillas. 2) an… … English dictionary
skirmish — skir|mish [ˈskə:mıʃ US ˈskə:r ] n [Date: 1300 1400; : Old French; Origin: escaramouche, from Old Italian scaramuccia] 1.) a fight between small groups of soldiers, ships etc, especially one that happens away from the main part of a battle used in … Dictionary of contemporary English
skirmish — I n. 1) a border; minor skirmish 2) a skirmish between; with II v. (D; intr.) to skirmish with * * * [ skɜːmɪʃ] minor skirmish with (D; intr.) to skirmish with a border a skirmishbetween … Combinatory dictionary
