brief skirmish
- noun
- /brif ˈskɜːrmɪʃ/
:
breve enfrentamiento
- During the demonstration, a brief skirmish broke out when protesters clashed with police.
Examples
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The soldiers engaged in a brief skirmish before retreating to safer ground.
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These combats were mostly brief skirmishes.
Fiction book (2002) -
They were met by some nervy cavalry and a brief skirmish broke out.
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After a brief skirmish, the grizzly was in the middle, four wolves behind and four wolves closer to the carcass.
Blog text (26) -
A brief skirmish erupted between the two rival gangs in the alley.
Synonyms
25
3.7
A short, rough fight between people, not usually serious
22
6.4
A brief unplanned fight between small groups, often during a larger conflict
21
4.2
A short fight between people, often over little things
A short minor fight between people that ends quickly
Antonyms
How Intense
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a short and minor fight' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'brief' (lasting a short time) with 'skirmish' (a short, unplanned clash). Both constituents contribute straightforwardly to the overall meaning and this compositional pattern is common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily understand it.
Etymology
Brief skirmish comes from old wars when small groups of soldiers would meet and fight quickly before a bigger battle. So brief skirmish means 'a short, minor fight' because brief shows it was short and skirmish was a small, quick clash.