melée

A form of melee — A battle fought at close range, (especially) one not involving ranged weapons; hand-to-hand combat; brawling.; CQC; CQB

OriginFrench mêlée →
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Meanings

nounmelée (countable and uncountable, plural melées)

plural melées

  1. countablerareuncountableRare spelling of melee.

    The French frigates did not provide much support to the fleet during the melée, unlike their British counterparts.

    2008, Nicholas Tracy, Nelson's Battles: The Triumph of British Seapower, Pen & Sword Books Limited, page 243

Origin

  1. Frenchmêlée
  2. Englishmelée

Borrowed from French mêlée.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Spanish melée, melé
  • meléemelee
  • melémelee
Cite this entry
APA

melée. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mel%C3%A9e

MLA

“melée.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mel%C3%A9e. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “melée,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mel%C3%A9e.

Source: melée on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.