skirmish

[skur-mish] /ˈskɜr mɪʃ/
noun
1.
Military. a fight between small bodies of troops, especially advanced or outlying detachments of opposing armies.
2.
any brisk conflict or encounter:
She had a skirmish with her landlord about the rent.
verb (used without object)
3.
to engage in a skirmish.
Origin
1300-50; (noun) Middle English skirmysshe < Old French eskirmiss-, long stem of eskirmir < Germanic (compare Old High German skirman); replacing Middle English scarmouche < Old French escaramoucher (see Scaramouch); (v.) late Middle English scarmuchen, scarmusshen to skirmish, Middle English skirmisshen to brandish a weapon < Old French escar(a)mucher to skirmish; vowels influenced by Old French eskirmiss-
Related forms
skirmisher, noun
outskirmish, verb (used with object)
Synonyms
1. combat, brush. See battle1 .
Examples from the web for skirmish
  • From that time forward there had been a skirmish or a fight almost every day.
  • Commission officials were aghast at having to fight yet another skirmish.
  • They were frontline troops in an important skirmish.
  • The skirmish promptly threatened to become a full-scale trade war.
  • It was a reminder that a small skirmish in these borderlands could spark a global showdown.
  • Everyone has a fragmentary insight into how the skirmish unfolded.
  • Getting into a skirmish can take more time than the actual skirmish does.
  • The latest skirmish is over social policies and their finance.
  • The skirmish may appear small, but it has important ramifications.
  • It is also a skirmish in the longer war for the survival of the two big political parties.
British Dictionary definitions for skirmish

skirmish

/ˈskɜːmɪʃ/
noun
1.
a minor short-lived military engagement
2.
any brisk clash or encounter, usually of a minor nature
verb
3.
(intransitive) often foll by with. to engage in a skirmish
Derived Forms
skirmisher, noun
Word Origin
C14: from Old French eskirmir, of Germanic origin; related to Old High German skirmen to defend
Word Origin and History for skirmish
n.

late 14c., from Old French escarmouche "skirmish," from Italian scaramuccia, earlier schermugio, probably from a Germanic source (cf. Old High German skirmen "to protect, defend"), with a diminutive or depreciatory suffix, from Proto-Germanic *skerm-, from PIE *(s)ker- (1) "to cut" (see shear).

Influenced in Middle English by a separate verb skirmysshen "to brandish a weapon," from Old French eskirmiss-, stem of eskirmir "to fence," from Frankish *skirmjan, from the same Germanic source. Cf. also scrimmage. Other modern Germanic forms have an additional diminutive affix: German scharmützel, Dutch schermutseling, Danish skjærmydsel. Skirmish-line attested by 1864.

v.

c.1200, from Old French escarmouchier, from Italian scaramucciare (see skirmish (n.)). Related: Skirmished; skirmishing.