battle royal
1
7.0
- noun
- /ˈbætəl ˈrɔɪəl/
- Informal
:
pelea campal
- The debate turned into a battle royal when everyone started shouting at once.
Examples
-
The kids had a battle royal in the backyard.
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There was a battle royal in the bar after the game ended in a draw.
-
The meeting erupted into a battle royal over the new policy proposal.
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During the party, a battle royal broke out over the last piece of cake!
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The kids turned the backyard into a battle royal, throwing pillows and laughing loudly.
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During the school assembly, the debate quickly escalated into a battle royal as students shouted over each other.
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Their argument in the park became a battle royal, drawing the attention of curious bystanders.
Synonyms
675
2.4
A strong argument between people or groups, often public
60
4.6
A noisy, violent fight among a group in a public place
50
6.5
A noisy fight involving several people
19
8.4
A loud, confused fight among many people
12
8.3
A violent fight between rival groups of young people
10
6.2
A wild fight or argument with many people and no rules
7
8.0
A very rough fight or argument where people attack each other a lot
4
5.1
A violent fight between rival criminal groups
4
7.5
A noisy fight where people push each other
2
9.1
A noisy public fight or argument that causes trouble
A noisy, rough fight with little care for rules
Antonyms
How Violent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'battle' (a fight) and 'royal' (relating to a king) allow a B1 learner to infer that the phrase denotes some kind of fight, but they will not reliably predict the precise gaming sense of a large free‑for‑all or last‑player‑standing competition. The meaning is a domain‑specific, metaphorical extension of 'battle' where 'royal' does not transparently signal elimination-style gameplay, so partial inference is possible but full comprehension requires prior exposure.
Etymology
Battle royal comes from old public shows where many fighters or people fought in a ring all at once, creating a wild, noisy battle. That's why it now means 'a noisy, disorderly fight'.