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Scrimmage

 - 3 dictionary results

scrim⋅mage

[skrim-ij] noun, verb, -maged, -mag⋅ing.
–noun
1. a rough or vigorous struggle.
2. Football.
a. the action that takes place between the teams from the moment the ball is snapped until it is declared dead. Compare line of scrimmage.
b. a practice session or informal game, as that played between two units of the same team.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
3. to engage in a scrimmage.

Origin:
1425–75; late ME, var. of scrimish, metathetic form of skirmish


scrim⋅mag⋅er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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scrim·mage   (skrĭm'ĭj)   
n.  
  1. Football The contest between two teams from the time the ball is snapped until it is declared dead.

  2. Sports A practice session or informal game, as between two units of the same team.

    1. A rough-and-tumble struggle; a tussle.

    2. A skirmish.

intr.v.   scrim·maged, scrim·mag·ing, scrim·mag·es Sports
To engage in a scrimmage.

[Middle English, alteration of skirmisshe, scrimish; see skirmish.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

scrimmage 
c.1470, alteration of skirmish (q.v.). The verb is recorded from 1825. Meaning in rugby and U.S. football dates from 1857, originally "a confused struggle between players."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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