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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


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"Battle royal" Quotes from Famous Books



... showed the brownish whites of his eyes in his effort to watch the intruder. Those that got the softer parts to feed on were well fed. But the three that did not turned all then energies on the frame of the Gobbler, and over that there waged a battle royal. This way and that they tugged and tussled, getting off occasional scraps, but really hindering each other feeding, till Tito glided in and deftly cut the Turkey into three or four, when each dashed off with a prize, over ...
— Johnny Bear - And Other Stories From Lives of the Hunted • E. T. Seton
... which in consequence, he prized as the apple of his eye. During his temporary absence from the ranch one day a confrere, "Stiff" Warwick, had, in a spirit of bravado, roped the "devil" and instituted a contest of wills. The pony was stubborn, the man likewise, and a battle royal followed. As a buzzard scents carrion, other cowboys anticipated sport, and a group soon gathered. Ere minutes had passed the blood of the belligerents was up, and they were battling as for life, with a dogged ...
— A Breath of Prairie and other stories • Will Lillibridge
... A battle royal was fought over the body of Arthur Tims, Malcolm Sage's chauffeur. Sir John Dene had insisted that a car and a chauffeur were indispensable to a man who was to rival Pinkerton's. Malcolm Sage, on the other hand, had protested that it was an ...
— Malcolm Sage, Detective • Herbert George Jenkins
... believe, he was true to history. That was a battle royal of dames, and I, for my part, have always regretted that Diane had to give up her palace. Have you seen Chaumont, which she so unwillingly received in exchange? No! Then you will see something fine in its way, but far less ...
— In Chteau Land • Anne Hollingsworth Wharton
... 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


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