1
: a combat between two persons
specifically
: a formal combat with weapons fought between two persons in the presence of witnesses
2
: a conflict between antagonistic persons, ideas, or forces
also
: a hard-fought contest between two opponents
dueled or duelled; dueling or duelling
: to fight a duel
: to encounter (an opponent) in a duel
dueler
noun
or dueller
Synonyms
Examples of duel in a Sentence
Noun
They engaged in a duel of wits.
a duel for the title of captain of the team
Verb
He accepted the challenge to duel.
Legislators dueled over the tax increases.
The two runners dueled for the lead.
Recent Examples on the Web
John Tufts, The Indianapolis Star, 8 Apr. 2024
Take a look back at how the game unfolded...
Another pitching duel at The K
Friday’s game featured plenty of perplexed batters — and not much run support to help those on the mound.
—Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 6 Apr. 2024
But Wills goes further: Onegin, in his performative heterosexuality, kills Lensky, his best friend and lover, in a duel.
—Joshua Barone, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024
There also was controversy in the Oregon State-Notre Dame duel in the Sweet 16, when Irish star freshman Hannah Hidalgo missed more than four minutes of the second quarter when officials required her to have her nose ring removed.
—Jeff Metcalfe, The Mercury News, 2 Apr. 2024
After a decade-long stalemate over 11 acres of vacant, overgrown land, two Charlotte developers avoided a courtroom duel and settled Wednesday.
—Julia Coin, Charlotte Observer, 28 Mar. 2024
Like Westeros in Game of Thrones, the world of Dune has a tradition of honor duels, when someone who is challenged can select a champion to take their place.
—Christian Holub, EW.com, 1 Mar. 2024
The qualifying also sets the lineup for the duel races.
—Ellen J. Horrow, USA TODAY, 13 Feb. 2024
The city’s remaining streets seem haunted after two years of artillery duels.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 23 Feb. 2024
Jessica Moore, CBS News, 17 Apr. 2024
What began in a Brentwood park on a summer day in 2022, when a dog owned by billionaire surgical-device inventor Gary Michelson allegedly bit another pet owner, has turned into dueling lawsuits and an allegation of blackmail.
—Laurence Darmiento, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024
By the end of the month, both sides had filed dueling lawsuits in Cass County.
—Jonathan Shorman, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024
On Thursday, Max released two, dueling trailers in anticipation of the upcoming second season of House of the Dragon, confirming a June 16 premiere date.
—Sadie Bell, Peoplemag, 21 Mar. 2024
Even as SpaceX launched its next-generation rocket, the social media company was dueling with Don Lemon, a former CNN anchor who was sharing clips from a combative interview with Mr. Musk.
—Kenneth Chang, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2024
Coached by George Raveling, the ’92 Trojans were dueling with a powerhouse UCLA team that became a No. 1 seed and an Arizona team that earned a No. 3 seed.
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 2 Apr. 2024
But the intensifying battle to replace him, between Senators John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota and possibly others, is really a throwback to an earlier era, when leadership races in Congress were crowded and sometimes messy affairs featuring prominent figures and dueling factions.
—Carl Hulse, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2024
After an early Blue Raider goal by Colton Parks, Thomas MacLeod made it 2-0 in the 48th minute beating a Charger defender to the ball then out dueling the goal keeper.
—Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 Mar. 2024
Noun
May 30: Future U.S. President Andrew Jackson shoots and kills American attorney Charles Dickinson in a duel after Dickinson accused Jackson's wife of bigamy.
—John Tufts, The Indianapolis Star, 8 Apr. 2024
Take a look back at how the game unfolded...
Another pitching duel at The K
Friday’s game featured plenty of perplexed batters — and not much run support to help those on the mound.
—Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 6 Apr. 2024
But Wills goes further: Onegin, in his performative heterosexuality, kills Lensky, his best friend and lover, in a duel.
—Joshua Barone, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024
There also was controversy in the Oregon State-Notre Dame duel in the Sweet 16, when Irish star freshman Hannah Hidalgo missed more than four minutes of the second quarter when officials required her to have her nose ring removed.
—Jeff Metcalfe, The Mercury News, 2 Apr. 2024
After a decade-long stalemate over 11 acres of vacant, overgrown land, two Charlotte developers avoided a courtroom duel and settled Wednesday.
—Julia Coin, Charlotte Observer, 28 Mar. 2024
Like Westeros in Game of Thrones, the world of Dune has a tradition of honor duels, when someone who is challenged can select a champion to take their place.
—Christian Holub, EW.com, 1 Mar. 2024
The qualifying also sets the lineup for the duel races.
—Ellen J. Horrow, USA TODAY, 13 Feb. 2024
The city’s remaining streets seem haunted after two years of artillery duels.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 23 Feb. 2024
Verb
In October, the NYPD confirmed a swastika was found inside a building, and dueling demonstrations over the Israel-Hamas War have intensified in the months since.
—Jessica Moore, CBS News, 17 Apr. 2024
What began in a Brentwood park on a summer day in 2022, when a dog owned by billionaire surgical-device inventor Gary Michelson allegedly bit another pet owner, has turned into dueling lawsuits and an allegation of blackmail.
—Laurence Darmiento, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024
By the end of the month, both sides had filed dueling lawsuits in Cass County.
—Jonathan Shorman, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024
On Thursday, Max released two, dueling trailers in anticipation of the upcoming second season of House of the Dragon, confirming a June 16 premiere date.
—Sadie Bell, Peoplemag, 21 Mar. 2024
Even as SpaceX launched its next-generation rocket, the social media company was dueling with Don Lemon, a former CNN anchor who was sharing clips from a combative interview with Mr. Musk.
—Kenneth Chang, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2024
Coached by George Raveling, the ’92 Trojans were dueling with a powerhouse UCLA team that became a No. 1 seed and an Arizona team that earned a No. 3 seed.
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 2 Apr. 2024
But the intensifying battle to replace him, between Senators John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota and possibly others, is really a throwback to an earlier era, when leadership races in Congress were crowded and sometimes messy affairs featuring prominent figures and dueling factions.
—Carl Hulse, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2024
After an early Blue Raider goal by Colton Parks, Thomas MacLeod made it 2-0 in the 48th minute beating a Charger defender to the ball then out dueling the goal keeper.
—Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'duel.' 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 duel
Cite this Entry
“Duel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/duel. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
duel
1 of 2 noun
du·el
ˈd(y)ü-əl 
1
: a combat between two persons
especially
: one fought with weapons in the presence of witnesses
2
: a conflict between two opponents
duel
2 of 2 verb
dueled or duelled; dueling or duelling
: to fight in a duel
dueler
noun
or dueller
Etymology
Noun
from Latin duellum "duel," from an archaic form of earlier bellum "war"; revived in the Middle Ages to mean combat between two persons because the du- suggested Latin duo "two"
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