as in brawls
a rough and often noisy fight usually involving several people
a verbal disagreement at the football game soon turned into a general melee involving scores of spectators
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Recent Examples of melees
There was a bunch of melees on the ice today.
—
Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 22 Apr. 2026
College basketball games recently have turned into full-contact melees after hard fouls on the court.
—Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 2026
Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 22 Apr. 2026
College basketball games recently have turned into full-contact melees after hard fouls on the court.
—Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for melees
Noun
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They were called after multiple brawls involving as many as 100 people, most of whom were juveniles, broke out at the park.—
Sean Joseph OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
28 Apr. 2026
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Malema heads the Economic Freedom Fighters, which advocates for the expropriation of mines, banks and land, and is notorious for starting brawls in parliament.—
Jonathan Tirone,
Bloomberg,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Not to worry, soccer aficionados — there’s an abundance of high-stakes clashes to tide you over until then.—
John Riker,
New York Times,
4 May 2026
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Be aware of your short fuse as Mars clashes with Jupiter.—
USA TODAY,
USA Today,
4 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Melees.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/melees. Accessed 5 May. 2026.
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