brawl

/brɔl/

/brɔl/

Other forms: brawling; brawls; brawled

A brawl is a noisy fight in a crowd. If the food fight in the cafeteria gets seriously out of hand, you might find yourself in an all-out brawl.

Brawl can also be used as a verb—people who are fighting can be said to be brawling, whether or not they are using their fists. Similarly, you can use the word to suggest that a war of words is rough, in the manner of a bar fight—the bride and her mother were engaged in a brawl over the guest list for the big day.

Definitions of brawl

1. verb

   quarrel noisily, angrily or disruptively
   synonyms: wrangle

   type of:

   altercate, argufy, dispute, quarrel, scrap

   have a disagreement over something
2. noun

   a noisy fight in a crowd
   synonyms: free-for-all

   type of:

   combat, fight, fighting, scrap

   the act of fighting; any contest or struggle
3. noun

   an uproarious party
   synonyms: bash, do

   type of:

   party

   an occasion on which people can assemble for social interaction and entertainment