battle
//ˈbætl̩//
Forms
- Plural
- battles
- Comparative
- more battle
- Superlative
- most battle
- present (v1)
- battle
- past (v2)
- battled
- past participle (v3)
- battled
- present participle
- battling
- 3rd person singular
- battles
Definitions
1.A contest, a struggle.
- Australian broadcaster Clive James has admitted that he is losing his long-fought battle with leukaemia.
2.A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; a combat, an engagement.
3.Clipping of battle buddy.
1.Of grass or pasture: nutritious to cattle or sheep; fattening, nourishing.
2.Of land (originally pastureland) or soil: fertile, fruitful.
1.To join in battle; to contend in fight
- She has been battling against cancer for years.
- Scientists always battle over theories.
- Hard work is required from men and machines as I was to experience later when footplating Lambton No 5 on five bogies battling its way up Newtondale.
2.To fight or struggle; to enter into a battle with.
- She has been battling cancer for years.
Frequency
Overall
Common· #1286
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Uncommon
- General reading & writing
- Common
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Synonyms
Word family
Etymology
From Middle English batel, batell, batelle, batayle, bataylle, borrowed from Old French bataille, from Late Latin battālia, variant of battuālia (“fighting and fencing exercises”) from Latin battuō (“to strike, hit, beat, fight”), of uncertain origin.