# melee

Pronunciation: US say "MAY-lay" /ˈmeɪˌleɪ/; UK say "MEL-ay" /ˈmɛˌleɪ/

## Noun

1. A loud, confused, or chaotic fight or argument.
   - Simple: A noisy, messy fight or argument that gets out of control.
   - _Several players joined the melee after the late hit, and two were ejected._
   - _Police arrived to break up a melee outside the nightclub._
2. A battle fought at close range, especially one without ranged weapons; hand-to-hand combat.
   - Simple: A fight up close, usually without weapons that shoot from far away.
   - _Once the lines collided, the battle dissolved into a savage melee of swords and axes._
   - _The game's early levels are mostly melee, with only a few chances to use a bow._
3. A confused, disorderly, or chaotic situation of any kind.
   - Simple: Any situation that is messy and confused.
   - _Moving day turned the house into a melee of boxes, movers, and barking dogs._
   - _The first minutes of the trading day are a melee of orders and rumors._
5. Lively contention or debate; a skirmish between opposing sides.
   - Simple: A lively argument or debate between people or groups.
   - _Late in the campaign, the senator waded into the melee over health care._
   - _The proposal set off a fierce melee among economists that played out in the journals for a year._
8. Small cut and polished gemstones, sold in lots rather than one by one.
   - Simple: Small cut and polished jewels that are sold in groups.
   - _The dealer bought a parcel of diamond melee at the trade show._
   - _A row of sapphire melee runs along each side of the band._
9. Short name for the video game Super Smash Bros. Melee.
   - Simple: A short name for the video game Super Smash Bros. Melee.
   - _He brought his old console to the party so everyone could play Melee._
   - _Competitive Melee players drill the same combos for hours._
10. A cavalry exercise in which two groups of riders try to cut paper plumes from their opponents' helmets, until one side has no plumes left.
   - Simple: A training game in which two teams of riders try to cut the paper plumes off each other's helmets.
   - _The regiment closed its summer drills with a melee on the parade ground, watched by the general._
   - _By the end of the melee, only two riders on the red side still wore their plumes._

## Adjective

4. Of a weapon, used in close-range combat, as a sword is, rather than at a distance.
   - Simple: Used for fighting up close, like a sword.
   - _The latest patch made melee weapons hit harder than most rifles._
   - _Daggers are fast melee weapons, but their reach is short._
7. Of a game character, fighting with melee weapons.
   - Simple: Fighting up close with swords or similar weapons, said of a game character.
   - _Melee classes need heavy armor because they spend every fight in the thick of the action._
   - _The boss is easy for ranged players but brutal for melee heroes._

## Verb

6. To hit someone at close quarters instead of shooting, blowing them up, or damaging them from a distance, often with a hand-to-hand weapon. *(slang)*
   - Simple: In video games, to hit someone up close instead of shooting them.
   - _Tanks melee at the front while the healers stay back._
   - _She crept up behind the sniper and meleed him before he could turn around._

## Origin

Borrowed from French mêlée, from Old French meslee, the feminine past participle of mesler "to mix", derived from Latin misceō "mix". It is a doublet of medley.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/melee (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).