There was a skirmish between two moms in the bleachers at the football game.
When two people have a brief argument, this is an example of a skirmish.
When you get involved in a little fight, this is an example of a time when you skirmish.
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Origin of skirmish
Middle English scarmoch from Middle French escharmuche from Italian scaramuccia from schermire, to fight from Gmc, as in Old High German an unverified form skirmjan, to protect from skirm, a guard: see screenOrigin of skirmish
ME scarmishen
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noun
intransitive verb
skir·mished, skir·mish·ing, skir·mish·esOrigin of skirmish
Middle English skirmisshe alteration ( influenced by Middle English skirmisshen to brandish a weapon ) of skarmush from Old French eskarmouch from Old Italian scaramuccia of Germanic origin ; see sker-1 in Indo-European roots.Related Forms:
noun
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(plural skirmishes)
(third-person singular simple present skirmishes, present participle skirmishing, simple past and past participle skirmished)
From Old French escarmouche (“skirmish"), from Italian scaramuccia, earlier schermugio.
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