How to Use duel in a Sentence

duel

1 of 2 noun
  • They engaged in a duel of wits.
  • The duel on the mound was so-so.
    — CBS News, 4 Apr. 2026
  • This should be a bit of a pitcher's duel.
    — David Troy Outkick, FOXNews.com, 1 June 2026
  • But this isn’t a simple one-on-one duel.
    — Trefis Team, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
  • Strength in duels – ground and aerial.
    — Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 29 May 2026
  • No Leeds player won more than his eight duels.
    — Beren Cross, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2026
  • The hope is more of a fiery attitude could lead to more duels won.
    — Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
  • The pitchers' duel featured just one walk and moved at a rapid pace.
    — CBS News, 16 June 2026
  • Yes, purists love pitching duels.
    — Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 24 June 2026
  • Both men need to win this duel, in other words, to gain back their freedom.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 25 May 2023
  • Both times, Glasnow won the duel.
    — Tyler Kepner, New York Times, 4 Mar. 2026
  • Miley won eight of his 10 ground duels and one of his three in the air.
    — Chris Waugh, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
  • What gets all the attention is the duel between me and a few of them.
    — Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 18 June 2026
  • Both teams seem to be settling into a duel between two aces.
    — Thomas Jones, Austin American Statesman, 6 Mar. 2026
  • The legal duels dragged out through the summer and into the next year.
    — Thomas Floyd, Washington Post, 20 Apr. 2023
  • Imposing, strong, calm and good in duels.
    — Tim Spiers, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2025
  • Off the ball, Bosnia aren’t afraid to contest a duel or put in a tackle.
    — Ahmed Walid, New York Times, 5 June 2026
  • Frankfurt played well, but most of their goals could be traced to a lost duel or a basic mistake.
    — Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
  • Our last playoff game was also a pitcher’s duel.
    — Tom Mulherin, Boston Herald, 8 June 2026
  • The duels were one of the most intense new elements of the season.
    — Carly Thomas, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Nov. 2023
  • In medieval disputes, knights toss a glove to the ground to challenge each other to a duel.
    — New York Times, 26 June 2026
  • But for Bradley, the tournament came down to a duel with Daniel.
    — Hank Beckman, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2025
  • The duel continued with penalty kicks as both teams made goals on the first of their five penalty kicks.
    — Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 18 Dec. 2022
  • No losers in awesome freeski big air Olympic duel that broke boundaries.
    — Alex Connor, USA Today, 18 Feb. 2026
  • Engage in precise sword duels and stealthy takedowns.
    — George Yang, PC Magazine, 1 May 2026
  • There was a time when people used to challenge their opponents to a duel when their good name was at stake.
    — Oleksandr Strozhemin, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024
  • The home team then alternates on the last three potential duels.
    — Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
  • Only 21 years old, but is imposing, strong, calm and good in duels.
    — Tim Spiers, New York Times, 26 May 2026
  • Neither side could break ahead as the two teams began in a tense 7-7 duel in the first quarter.
    — Indy Star Sports, The Indianapolis Star, 19 Aug. 2023
  • Two gladiators were matched in a duel.
    — Literary Hub, 15 Apr. 2026

duel

2 of 2 verb
  • The two runners dueled for the lead.
  • He accepted the challenge to duel.
  • Legislators dueled over the tax increases.
  • And then there were their duelling styles.
    — Natasha O'Neill, Vanity Fair, 26 Jan. 2026
  • From there, two of the best young pitchers in the game dueled.
    — Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 15 Apr. 2026
  • When the queen dies, the worker ants of this species duel over who gets to take her place.
    — Corryn Wetzel, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Nov. 2021
  • How can there be dueling sequels to the same film?
    — Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 29 Oct. 2025
  • That paved the way for dueling lawsuits.
    — Brenda Goodman, CNN Money, 5 Sep. 2025
  • With both of these starters expected to duel, the under is worth a look.
    — Doug Ziefel, Chicago Tribune, 2 Nov. 2022
  • Is that the sound of dueling banjos in the distance?
    — John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 11 Mar. 2026
  • The dueling bills leave the shutdown without an end in sight.
    — Caroline Linton, CBS News, 29 Mar. 2026
  • Outside the courthouse, two duelling protests waited for them.
    — Diego Lasarte, New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2026
  • The vote marked the sixth time that the dueling agreements failed in the Senate.
    — Sudiksha Kochi, USA Today, 8 Oct. 2025
  • The vote marked the sixth time that the dueling agreements failed in the Senate.
    — Joey Garrison, USA Today, 9 Oct. 2025
  • There has been a fierce legal battle, dueling memoirs, and sharp barbs in the press.
    — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 21 Apr. 2026
  • There were dueling chants for Mox and O’Reilly.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 24 May 2026
  • The two sides dueled for seven games in a conference semifinals two years ago.
    — Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 18 Apr. 2026
  • After an extensive cool-down period, the fastest six cars of the month were ready to duel for the pole.
    — Rob Peeters, The Indianapolis Star, 22 May 2022
  • That means Toll Brothers and Brookfield will duel once again.
    — Jennifer Van Grove, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Oct. 2021
  • Since then, Baldoni has pushed to bring the singer into the dueling lawsuits.
    — Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 12 Sep. 2025
  • This month, the town and The Post filed dueling motions in the lawsuit over those records.
    — Steve Thompson, Washington Post, 27 Dec. 2023
  • On Super Bowl night, there will be dueling halftime shows.
    — Adam G. Klein, The Conversation, 12 Nov. 2025
  • An pack of intrepid wizards will duel against a tiny blue speed demon to lead domestic box office charts.
    — Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 13 Apr. 2022
  • Turin engaged in dueling chants for Ruca and Lynch.
    — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 31 May 2026
  • The dueling anxieties have been brewing for months.
    — Jeran Wittenstein, Fortune, 15 Feb. 2026
  • The dueling anxieties have been brewing for months.
    — Bloomberg, Oc Register, 16 Feb. 2026
  • The dueling legal takes come after both sides framed this week's surprise settlement as a win.
    — Elizabeth Rosner, PEOPLE, 8 May 2026
  • The dueling orders all but guaranteed that the case would go to the Supreme Court.
    — Abbie Vansickle, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2023
  • Napoli said dueling dinosaurs, which is still partially encased in rock, has many more secrets to spill.
    — Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2025
  • The closing laps turned dramatic as Heim and Riggs dueled for the lead.
    — Shane Connuck, Charlotte Observer, 30 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'duel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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