melee
melee Lexical Profile
melee Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A confused, disorderly fight, skirmish, or scuffle involving a crowd of people at close quarters.
"Several players were ejected from the championship game after a sudden melee broke out near the bench."
A chaotic, tumultuous crowd of people or a confused mass of things.
"She lost sight of her luggage in the noisy melee of holiday travelers at the train station."
Small, faceted diamonds, typically weighing less than a fifth of a carat each, used collectively as accent stones in jewelry.
"The vintage platinum ring features a central sapphire surrounded by a delicate halo of diamond melee."
• Rhymes for melee
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the mid-17th century from French mêlée, from Old French meslee ('a mixture, confusion, or hand-to-hand fight'), ultimately derived from Vulgar Latin misculare ('to mix'). It shares an etymological root with the English word 'medley'.