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skirmish

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skir⋅mish

  [skur-mish]
Use skirmish in a Sentence
–noun
1. Military. a fight between small bodies of troops, esp. advanced or outlying detachments of opposing armies.
2. any brisk conflict or encounter: She had a skirmish with her landlord about the rent.
–verb (used without object)
3. to engage in a skirmish.
Origin:
1300–50; (n.) ME skirmysshe < OF eskirmiss-, long s. of eskirmir < Gmc (cf. OHG skirman); r. ME scarmouche < OF escaramoucher (see Scaramouch ); (v.) late ME scarmuchen, scarmusshen to skirmish, ME skirmisshen to brandish a weapon < OF escar(a)mucher to skirmish; vowels influenced by OF eskirmiss-

Related forms:
skir⋅mish⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. combat, brush. See battle 1 .
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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skir·mish   (skûr'mĭsh)   
n.  

  1. A minor battle in war, as one between small forces or between large forces avoiding direct conflict.

  2. A minor or preliminary conflict or dispute: a skirmish over the rules before the debate began.

intr.v.   skir·mished, skir·mish·ing, skir·mish·es
To engage in a minor battle or dispute.

[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.]
skir'mish·er n.
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

skirmish 
c.1300, from O.Fr. escarmouche "skirmish," from It. scaramuccia, probably from a Gmc. source (cf. O.H.G. skirmen "to protect, defend"), influenced in M.E. by a separate verb skirmysshen "to brandish a weapon," from O.Fr. eskirmiss-, stem of eskirmir "to fence," from Frankish *skirmjan, from the same Gmc. source. The verb is attested from c.1470. Cf. also scrimmage.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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