Free translatorFree translator
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home 		English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Battle royal   /bˈætəl rˈɔɪəl/   Listen
noun
Battle  n.  
1.
A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; an engagement; a combat.
2.
A struggle; a contest; as, the battle of life. "The whole intellectual battle that had at its center the best poem of the best poet of that day."
3.
A division of an army; a battalion. (Obs.) "The king divided his army into three battles." "The cavalry, by way of distinction, was called the battle, and on it alone depended the fate of every action."
4.
The main body, as distinct from the van and rear; battalia. (Obs.) Note: Battle is used adjectively or as the first part of a self-explaining compound; as, battle brand, a "brand" or sword used in battle; battle cry; battlefield; battle ground; battle array; battle song.
Battle piece, a painting, or a musical composition, representing a battle.
Battle royal.
(a)
A fight between several gamecocks, where the one that stands longest is the victor.
(b)
A contest with fists or cudgels in which more than two are engaged; a mêlée.
Drawn battle, one in which neither party gains the victory.
To give battle, to attack an enemy.
To join battle, to meet the attack; to engage in battle.
Pitched battle, one in which the armies are previously drawn up in form, with a regular disposition of the forces.
Wager of battle. See under Wager, n.
Synonyms: Conflict; encounter; contest; action. Battle, Combat, Fight, Engagement. These words agree in denoting a close encounter between contending parties. Fight is a word of less dignity than the others. Except in poetry, it is more naturally applied to the encounter of a few individuals, and more commonly an accidental one; as, a street fight. A combat is a close encounter, whether between few or many, and is usually premeditated. A battle is commonly more general and prolonged. An engagement supposes large numbers on each side, engaged or intermingled in the conflict.


adjective
Royal  adj.  
1.
Kingly; pertaining to the crown or the sovereign; suitable for a king or queen; regal; as, royal power or prerogative; royal domains; the royal family; royal state.
2.
Noble; generous; magnificent; princely. "How doth that royal merchant, good Antonio?"
3.
Under the patronage of royality; holding a charter granted by the sovereign; as, the Royal Academy of Arts; the Royal Society.
Battle royal. See under Battle.
Royal bay (Bot.), the classic laurel (Laurus nobilis.)
Royal eagle. (Zool.) See Golden eagle, under Golden.
Royal fern (Bot.), the handsome fern Osmunda regalis. See Osmund.
Royal mast (Naut.), the mast next above the topgallant mast and usually the highest on a square-rigged vessel. The royal yard and royal sail are attached to the royal mast.
Royal metal, an old name for gold.
Royal palm (Bot.), a magnificent West Indian palm tree (Oreodoxa regia), lately discovered also in Florida.
Royal pheasant. See Curassow.
Royal purple, an intense violet color, verging toward blue.
Royal tern (Zool.), a large, crested American tern (Sterna maxima).
Royal tiger. (Zool.) See Tiger.
Royal touch, the touching of a diseased person by the hand of a king, with the view of restoring to health; formerly extensively practiced, particularly for the scrofula, or king's evil.
Synonyms: Kingly; regal; monarchical; imperial; kinglike; princely; august; majestic; superb; splendid; illustrious; noble; magnanimous.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words


Share |




"Battle royal" Quotes from Famous Books



... piled, as on so many other occasions, honours high and thick on my old head. But I well know how great a part you have played in establishing and spreading the belief in the descent- theory, ever since that grand review in the "Times" and the battle royal at Oxford ...
— The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Volume II • Francis Darwin
... do. Such opposition would nerve me up to a battle royal. I wouldn't give it up until I'd returned from Barnegat, if I were you," I added, anxious to have him renew his efforts; for an idea had just flashed across my mind, which, although it involved a breach of faith on my part, I nevertheless believed to be good ...
— A Rebellious Heroine • John Kendrick Bangs
... in a battle royal. The results were muzzles swollen and puffed out like those of mandrills, and black eyes—that is to say, blood-red orbits where the skin had been abraded by fist and stick. As they applied to us for justice and redress, we administered it, after 'seeing face and back,' or ...
— To The Gold Coast for Gold, Vol. II - A Personal Narrative • Richard Francis Burton and Verney Lovett Cameron
... off in the Gulch bushes, not a sound or sign came up to the bluff. Steering mourned for Piney. If the tramp-boy had not gone away, things might have been more bearable. But the lad's jealousy and his love for Steering were in battle royal now, and Piney kept far from his hero, on the misty hills. Uncle Bernique was off on the hills, too, almost all the time; at the moment of this present crisis Bernique had been away for days. It was the merciless loneliness of the effort there at Redbud ...
— Sally of Missouri • R. E. Young
... though your several Churches disagree, Yet every saint has to himself alone The secret of this philosophic stone. These principles your jarring sects unite, When differing doctors and disciples fight. Though Luther, Zuinglius, Calvin, holy chiefs, Have made a battle royal of beliefs; Or, like wild horses, several ways have whirl'd The tortured text about the Christian world; Each Jehu lashing on with furious force, 120 That Turk or Jew could not have used it worse; No matter what dissension leaders make, Where every private man may save ...
— The Poetical Works of John Dryden, Vol I - With Life, Critical Dissertation, and Explanatory Notes • John Dryden
... He must have it out with Yasmini in one battle royal. If she should be willing to surrender, well and good. He would make her pay for the past, but no doubt there were certain concessions that he could yield without loss of dignity. If she knew the secret of the hiding-place of the treasure he would worm it out of ...
— Guns of the Gods • Talbot Mundy


Copyright © 2025 Free Translator.org