/ˈmɛˌleɪ/, /ˈmɛ.li/, /ˈmeɪˌleɪ/
OriginBorrowed from French mêlée, from Old French meslee, feminine past participle of mesler (“to mix”), derived from Latin misceō (“mix”). Doublet of medley.
- countable, especially, uncountableA battle fought at close range, (especially) one not involving ranged weapons; hand-to-hand combat; brawling.
“Honestly, a lot of what this episode did right had more to do with the scenes that surrounded the enormous melee than those hyper-edited clashes of swords.”
“The attack also afforded Helena to a front-seat view of literal air-to-air melee combat, as one Wildcat pilot of the Cactus Air Force, who was swooping in to help break up the attack, found himself ou”
- countable, uncountableA loud, confused or tumultuous fight, argument or scrap.
“The ball did not appear to cross the line, a view supported by television replays as Blues captain John Terry also joined the melee, but referee Atkinson awarded the goal - to the obvious anger of Spu”
“Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver said Tuesday that the federal assault charges filed against her a day earlier related to a chaotic melee outside an Immigration Customs and Enforcement detention facili”
- countable, uncountableAny confused, disorganised, disordered or chaotic situation.
“Within this melee of intersections between English and Cantonese, the students, being themselves bilingually fluent, were able to navigate with perfect ease in communicative contexts where the provena”
- countable, uncountableLively contention or debate, skirmish.
- countable, historical, uncountableA cavalry exercise in which two groups of riders try to cut paper plumes off the helmets of their opponents, the contest continuing until no member of one group retains his plume.
- countable, uncountableSmall cut and polished gemstones sold in lots.
- capitalized, countable, uncountable, usuallyThe video game Super Smash Bros. Melee.
- slangTo physically hit in close quarters, as opposed to shooting, blowing up, or other ranged means of damage. Often refers to the usage of a hand-to-hand weapon.
- not-comparableOf a weapon: used in close-range combat, e.g. a sword. Compare with ranged.
“A melee weapon is used to attack a target within 5 feet of you, whereas a ranged weapon is used to attack a target at a distance.”
- not-comparableOf a character, using melee weapons.
Formsmelees(plural) · mêlée(alternative) · melée(alternative, rare) · melees(present, singular, third-person) · meleeing(participle, present) · meleed(participle, past) · meleed(past)