as in rivalries
an earnest effort for superiority or victory over another
the playful competition over who would get the new office turned into a real dogfight
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Recent Examples of dogfights
Unlike conventional drones focused on surveillance or limited strikes, Kizilelma is tailored for operations in hostile environments, aerial dogfights, and teamwork with piloted fighters.
—
Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 30 Dec. 2025
Its open world feels alive with bustling cities, dangerous deserts, and space dogfights.
—PC Magazine, 1 Dec. 2025
Two games like this, dogfights to start the year and just closing it on defense, there’s no better feeling.
—Michael Nowels, Mercury News, 15 Sep. 2025
Following that incident, analysts wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Turkish-Israeli mock dogfights, not unlike the recurring Turkish-Greek ones over the Aegean Sea, occurring over Syria, especially if Israel and Turkey’s opposing policies in that country diverge even further.
—Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025
On top of dogfights and exploration, there are plenty of puzzles to solve and secrets to uncover.
—Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 4 Aug. 2025
Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 30 Dec. 2025
Its open world feels alive with bustling cities, dangerous deserts, and space dogfights.
—PC Magazine, 1 Dec. 2025
Two games like this, dogfights to start the year and just closing it on defense, there’s no better feeling.
—Michael Nowels, Mercury News, 15 Sep. 2025
Following that incident, analysts wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Turkish-Israeli mock dogfights, not unlike the recurring Turkish-Greek ones over the Aegean Sea, occurring over Syria, especially if Israel and Turkey’s opposing policies in that country diverge even further.
—Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025
On top of dogfights and exploration, there are plenty of puzzles to solve and secrets to uncover.
—Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 4 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dogfights
Noun
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As a 10-time world champion who’s entering her fifth, and final, Winter Olympics, American hockey star Hilary Knight, 35, has played a key role in energizing one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports.—
Sean Gregory,
Time,
4 Feb. 2026
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The sport was built on rivalries.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
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While earlier phases of the Bay-Delta plan have already been litigated, much of the recent focus has been on lengthy negotiations and revisions to the plan, rather than on launching new courtroom battles.—
Chaewon Chung,
Sacbee.com,
10 Feb. 2026
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The beef, which started in 1999, has spawned almost three decades of diss tracks and battles in real life and on social media.—
Assistant Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
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That didn’t mean being blasé about the risks, but if the prototype for a centre-forward was Roberto Firmino rather than Andy Carroll, teams would adjust accordingly and aerial duels would be contested less regularly.—
Michael Cox,
New York Times,
11 Feb. 2026
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Canada has won four of the six Olympics championship duels with its southern neighbors, with the 2006 victory giving the country five overall Olympic women’s hockey golds.—
Sean Gregory,
Time,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Starmer faces mounting pressure from Labor MPs over his judgment, with his premiership now in jeopardy amid broader government struggles and poor polling.—
Jill Lawless,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Feb. 2026
-
The 2025 August slide from the Padre with the biggest contract was especially unfortunate as the Padres (16-12 in August) were unable to fully capitalize on the Dodgers’ struggles (15-13 in August) to overtake them in the NL West.—
Jeff Sanders,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Iran has in the past threatened to close the Strait during previous confrontations, raising the prospect of higher oil prices.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Volunteers spoke of the risks of verbal and physical confrontations with ICE agents, including the use of pepper spray and other irritants against observers and even arrests.—
Ray Sanchez,
CNN Money,
8 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The area, with an altitude of nearly 6,000 feet, plays host to all freestyle skiing and snowboarding competitions and has three hotels that were transformed into an Olympic village.—
Paulina Dedaj,
FOXNews.com,
12 Feb. 2026
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The most obvious competitions look to be for the final roster spots in the bullpen and the outfield.—
Marc Topkin,
The Orlando Sentinel,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Pressure from shareholders and the race to beat out competitors in the AI wars factor into the efficiency drive.—
Sarah Jackson,
CNBC,
10 Feb. 2026
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There are hot wars in Ukraine and Gaza, cold wars on the Korean peninsula and in the Taiwan Strait, and budding wars in Iran and parts of Africa.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
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If multiple hypotheses work to explain the data equally well but one conflicts with reality in some other realm (and the other doesn’t), the one that’s valid across the widest range of applicability is superior.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
10 Feb. 2026
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Previously, there was also a recasting of the original leads, Saoirse Ronan and Austin Butler, due to scheduling conflicts, with Spaeny and Starkey taking over the roles.—
Rosy Cordero,
Deadline,
10 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dogfights.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dogfights. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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