battle (noun)
1: a hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war; "Grant won a decisive victory in the battle of Chickamauga"; "he lost his romantic ideas about war when he got into a real engagement" [syn: conflict, fight, engagement]
2: an energetic attempt to achieve something; "getting through the crowd was a real struggle"; "he fought a battle for recognition" [syn: struggle]
3: an open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals); "the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph"--Thomas Paine; "police tried to control the battle between the pro- and anti-abortion mobs" [syn: conflict, struggle] v : battle or contend against in or as if in a battle; "The Kurds are combating Iraqi troops in Nothern Iraq"; "We must combat the prejudices against other races"; "they battled over the budget" [syn: combat]