duel
noun/ˈdjuːəl/
/ˈduːəl/
- (in the past) a formal fight with weapons between two people who disagreed, especially over a matter of honour
- to fight/win a duel
- to challenge somebody to a duel
Extra Examples- He fought a duel with the prince.
- a duel between the two officers
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- a competition or struggle between two people or groups
- The debate rapidly descended into a verbal duel between the two candidates.
Word Originlate 15th cent.: from Latin duellum, archaic and literary form of bellum ‘war’, used in medieval Latin with the meaning ‘combat between two persons’, partly influenced by dualis ‘of two’. The original sense was ‘single combat used to decide a judicial dispute’; the sense ‘contest to decide a point of honour’ dates from the early 17th cent.
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