brawled; brawling; brawls
1
: to quarrel or fight noisily : wrangle
soccer fans brawling in the streets
2
: to make a loud confused noise
the Miami river … brawled over 25 feet of rapids—
Marjory S. Douglas
Marjory S. Douglas
brawler
noun
1
: a noisy quarrel or fight
a brawl broke out among the fans
a barroom brawl
2
: a loud tumultuous noise
the spring run became quite a trout brook and its tiny murmur a loud brawl—John Burroughs
John BurroughsSynonyms
Examples of brawl in a Sentence
Verb
Fans were brawling in the streets after the game.
the Wilsons were always loudly brawling, and the neighbors were always shutting their windows
Noun
they were thrown out of the party after starting a brawl
the student drama society's decision to put on the controversial play prompted a brawl at the school board meeting
Recent Examples on the WebMiles Klee, Rolling Stone, 8 Apr. 2024
Fisk is always ready to brawl, and his final encounter with Maya led to him reliving the most painful moments of his life.
—Christian Holub, EW.com, 10 Jan. 2024
Advertisement Funk impacted several different generations of the sport, wrestling as easily in a brawling style as a technical style.
—Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 24 Aug. 2023
Senate candidates brawled Tuesday night over energy, the economy, corporate ties and almost anything else Californians care about.
—David Lightman, Sacramento Bee, 21 Feb. 2024
When Swayze’s Dalton arrives at the Double Deuce, the seedy joint he’s supposed to transform, the place is all brawling chaos (or, at least, the 1980s backlot version of it: an orgy of broken prop glass, corn-syrup blood, and stunt fights that look like stunt fights).
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 9 Mar. 2024
Though hopefully with cooler heads prevailing; artists were known for brawling at the bar and Pollock was barred briefly for ripping a bathroom door off its hinges and throwing it at the artist Franz Kline during a fight.
—Zachary Small, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2024
Now, Gude and his gaggle of anti-Scientology protesters are brawling publicly with the organization.
—Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2024
This came about a week after surveillance footage captured a group of migrants brawling with police in Times Square.
—Ben Brasch, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024
Robert Salonga, The Mercury News, 10 Apr. 2024
Brody, who is based in California, bore a vague resemblance to a participant in the brawl.
—Amrita Khalid, The Verge, 9 Apr. 2024
That’s part of what makes Patel’s direction of the film so fascinating — the action sequences at the end of the movie are so much slicker than the hectic, chaotic brawls in the first half, because the Kid is so much more skilled and confident.
—Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
At a contentious January meeting that almost ended in a brawl, commissioners extended City Attorney Victoria Méndez’s contract until June, effectively terminating her midway through what is typically a yearlong agreement that is renewed annually.
—Joey Flechas, Miami Herald, 3 Apr. 2024
Godzilla, Kong and their adversaries flatten sections of Rio, ripping buildings in half during their climactic brawl, as a monster that can shoot ice from its mouth coats the coastal setting, presumably freezing a bunch of citizens as well.
—Esther Zuckerman, New York Times, 1 Apr. 2024
Luckily, the titular bad boys know their way around a brawl.
—Shania Russell, EW.com, 26 Mar. 2024
Kaylee Gain, 15, was hospitalized after a violent brawl captured on camera outside a school in St. Louis, Miss. on March 8, St. Louis County Police Department confirms to PEOPLE.
—Samira Asma-Sadeque, Peoplemag, 15 Mar. 2024
That’s the line that Road House, Doug Liman’s redo of the epitome of cinéma du brawl, has gotta walk.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 9 Mar. 2024
Verb
Last June, as members of the fascist Proud Boys gang brawled with the Rose City Nationalists, a neo-Nazi organization of the Pacific Northwest, at an LGBTQ pride event that both sought to disrupt, several RCN participants were unmasked.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 8 Apr. 2024
Fisk is always ready to brawl, and his final encounter with Maya led to him reliving the most painful moments of his life.
—Christian Holub, EW.com, 10 Jan. 2024
Advertisement Funk impacted several different generations of the sport, wrestling as easily in a brawling style as a technical style.
—Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 24 Aug. 2023
Senate candidates brawled Tuesday night over energy, the economy, corporate ties and almost anything else Californians care about.
—David Lightman, Sacramento Bee, 21 Feb. 2024
When Swayze’s Dalton arrives at the Double Deuce, the seedy joint he’s supposed to transform, the place is all brawling chaos (or, at least, the 1980s backlot version of it: an orgy of broken prop glass, corn-syrup blood, and stunt fights that look like stunt fights).
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 9 Mar. 2024
Though hopefully with cooler heads prevailing; artists were known for brawling at the bar and Pollock was barred briefly for ripping a bathroom door off its hinges and throwing it at the artist Franz Kline during a fight.
—Zachary Small, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2024
Now, Gude and his gaggle of anti-Scientology protesters are brawling publicly with the organization.
—Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2024
This came about a week after surveillance footage captured a group of migrants brawling with police in Times Square.
—Ben Brasch, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024
Noun
McNamara shot and wounded Green on March 27, 2022, an encounter that was immediately controversial because Green was a peacemaker in a brawl that erupted inside a taqueria near San Jose State University.
—Robert Salonga, The Mercury News, 10 Apr. 2024
Brody, who is based in California, bore a vague resemblance to a participant in the brawl.
—Amrita Khalid, The Verge, 9 Apr. 2024
That’s part of what makes Patel’s direction of the film so fascinating — the action sequences at the end of the movie are so much slicker than the hectic, chaotic brawls in the first half, because the Kid is so much more skilled and confident.
—Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
At a contentious January meeting that almost ended in a brawl, commissioners extended City Attorney Victoria Méndez’s contract until June, effectively terminating her midway through what is typically a yearlong agreement that is renewed annually.
—Joey Flechas, Miami Herald, 3 Apr. 2024
Godzilla, Kong and their adversaries flatten sections of Rio, ripping buildings in half during their climactic brawl, as a monster that can shoot ice from its mouth coats the coastal setting, presumably freezing a bunch of citizens as well.
—Esther Zuckerman, New York Times, 1 Apr. 2024
Luckily, the titular bad boys know their way around a brawl.
—Shania Russell, EW.com, 26 Mar. 2024
Kaylee Gain, 15, was hospitalized after a violent brawl captured on camera outside a school in St. Louis, Miss. on March 8, St. Louis County Police Department confirms to PEOPLE.
—Samira Asma-Sadeque, Peoplemag, 15 Mar. 2024
That’s the line that Road House, Doug Liman’s redo of the epitome of cinéma du brawl, has gotta walk.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 9 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'brawl.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near brawl
Cite this Entry
“Brawl.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brawl. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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